In Too Deep
by TragicallyMagical
Summary: "So we're soul mates?" And all it took was a nod from him to confirm it. That day when I had wanted to die, the day I lost my brother was the day he saw me for the first time. It was the day that he finally noticed me after all these years The day that he imprinted on me. Brady Imprint Story!
1. Prologue

**So this idea has been rattling around in my head for a while now and i finally found the opportunity and guts to put it on here haha**

**I hope you like it. **

**Oh and review :)**

Prologue

In Too Deep

I felt the tears brimming in my eyes and stinging like a bee. His name repeated in my head over and over again, which caused me to see his face in my mind as well. You'd think I wouldn't want to see anything that belonged to him because it would be too painful; because the wound was so fresh and out in the open. But just as long as I remembered at least some part of him, then I could die in peace.

I shuffled closer to the edge of the steep cliff and breathed in and out through my nose. The salty smell of the ocean burned my nostrils. I let myself stare down at my fate and I smiled. If doing this, taking my life away, meant seeing him again then I wouldn't want to waste the slim opportunity.

What reason was there to live anymore? My brother was my entire life, he was everything to me. I had nothing to live for anymore. I rolled up my sleeves and revealed the cuts that were lined up on my arm, each of them nearly parallel to the next. Dying was simple, peaceful. Living with a dad who does nothing but beat you until you're close to being unconscious and a mom who's a workaholic was the exact opposite of that. It was unfair that Noah left me behind. I felt cheated and lonely. My protector was gone forever. The only one who knew my pain, who felt my pain, was no longer here.

My eyelids closed when I felt my toes dangling over the edge, "Why couldn't you stay here with me," I whispered to nothing in particular. My arms extended out on either side of me as the wind blew through my hair and brushed up against each and every one of my fingers.

With everything I had left –which wasn't much- I flung myself off of the cliff. The adrenaline that pulsed through my veins as I was falling made me feel slightly better. And when I hit the cold water the feeling of pins and needles covered every inch of my body. It was the best feeling in the world to know that I was only about ten minutes away from seeing my brother again. I could leave everything behind and actually feel happy.

I didn't bother to fight the strong current that tossed me around. Instead, I let it engulf me into the ocean depths below. I was cold, but that meant little to me at the moment. I opened my eyes and stared at the blue that surrounded me. This was peaceful…this was death, what I've been waiting for. Gravity dragged me down deeper and I looked up to see how far I was from the oxygen. About fifty feet was my guess. Black dots started to impair my vision and I grinned because I knew I was extremely close now.

All that was going through my mind was his name. I couldn't think about anything else but his name and how many times I relied on crying out this name when I was in pain. How many times I wanted to scream this name out loud when I got pissed off at him. I loved that name more than anything.

Noah…

My thoughts eventually trailed off into nothing and the only thing I could see now was something big and dark coming towards me. I soon came to the realization that it had a face, and hair, and everything else that humans had. But this was no ordinary human. It, well he, had the most beautiful pair of brown eyes I have ever seen. He was perfect. And I could only assume that it was an angel coming to take me away because the next thing I knew I was in his big warm arms. And the last thing I remember was looking deeply into those brown eyes and feeling a spark run through my veins for the last time before everything went black.

**i hope you made it this far. If you did then please review cause if you don't then I won't think it's worth it to continue. **

**Read and review my other story, Best Friends No More, and you will get cookies :)**

**~KK**


	2. 1 Dealing With Death

**i'm glad everyone enjoyed the prologue. And since you guys liked it so much I am hoping that i did it justice in this chapter. **

**Hope you like it enough to read until the end :)**

song for this chapter- Open Up Your Eyes by Chris Daughtry

* * *

Chapter 1

Dealing With Death

There was an immense amount of pressure on my chest every couple of seconds. And then something warm pressed up against my lips. Nothing made sense to me at the moment because well, I wasn't exactly used to _dying. _Again, I felt the pressure and I realized that it kept a steady beat.

_One…Two…Three…_

Then I would feel the warmth on my lips. This continued for a while until I felt something starting to rise in my throat. Was I supposed to feel this way? I was dead after all. But was death supposed to include me feeling cold? And wet…soaking wet.

_One…Two…Three…_

My heart seemed to stutter a couple of times before it began a slow pace and whatever was in my throat finally reached my mouth. My eyes flew open when I realized the liquid that was in my mouth was preventing me from breathing.

Breathing…was I supposed to be breathing?

I coughed up the water and gasped for air, my chest heaving up and down frantically as I did. I couldn't make sense of where I was. All I really truly knew what that my eyes met the eyes of an angel. But it wasn't just any angel it was _the _angel that brought me here. They were the same deep shade of brown that I recognized from earlier.

"You're ok now," he whispered to me in the most beautiful voice I've ever heard in my entire life.

I kept my eyes locked with his and didn't pay attention to anything else but those eyes. I breathed in and out evenly now which caused my heart to speed up just a bit.

"Melody!" I heard someone call out, but I paid no attention to them.

His eye contact drifted somewhere else, but all I did was gawk at him. All I wanted to do was look at him, the brown eyed angel. Nothing else seemed important at the moment. Hell, I didn't really know what anything else was. I had yet to figure out where I was or even how I was.

"Melody!" the same voice called out again.

I began to feel annoyed with whoever felt like shouting my name over and over again. They sounded frantic and impatient all at the same time and I didn't like it. Not only was it disturbing the small minute of peace and quiet I was getting, but it was also making the angel move away from me.

"You'll be ok," he looked down at me for one more second before he darted off somewhere in the distance. I tried to follow him with my eyes, but he was so quick that I didn't even know what direction he headed in. My voice was on silent mode so shouting wasn't an option. My body was trembling so much that I didn't think moving was an option either.

Wait…I'm trembling…and my heart's beating…

I looked around at my surroundings to see where I was and to my extreme disappointment there were the cliffs. There was the ocean and here I was lying in the sand. I was alive.

My eyes immediately closed and I shook my head back and forth frantically, letting out anything that could possibly sound like a scream. I didn't _want _to be alive. I wanted to be with Noah. Not stuck here in this cruel place. I couldn't stand this place any longer!

"Melody what the hell happened?!" Someone was heading towards me but I couldn't make out who it was. But figuring that no one else would ever _think _about coming here I knew it was Connor, the only one who would go to my funeral. The only one who would care if I died.

Thinking about Connor had me stop my screaming and my shaking. He was the only good part of my life now. Life…I was still alive. I hate being alive.

Connor's dark curly hair came into view and his round face was only inches, no centimeters away from mine. His expression was one I rarely saw. He was scared, worried. Never in my life have I seen him so scared.

"You're soaking wet!" he pointed out, grabbing both of my arms and raising me.

I winced in pain. The impact of the fall must've caused the pain…or else it was the bruises, but I'm pretty sure the last time I saw them they were turning brown.

"What did you do Mel?" he sounded like he was about to cry. I examined Connor's face to be sure that it was him because by the way he was talking I was positive that it wasn't. Connor was never one to _cry. _I searched for his pale blue eyes under the hair that covered his face and sighed in relief when I saw them. Thank God it wasn't some weirdo. I'm pretty sure they would take me to the hospital. Then that would mean-

"Talk to me!" he screamed and shook my shoulders which caused the pain to come back.

"Ow!" I hissed at him, "Stop shaking me!"

"Jesus Christ Mel you almost gave me a heart attack!"

I shrugged his hands off of my arms and sighed loudly, my lips still slightly trembling and water dripping off of every part of me. I sat up on my own now and rubbed my eyes with the back of my wrist. Nothing about this made me feel good. Most people would consider themselves lucky to be alive. I on the other felt like I had just broken a mirror.

Reality cut through me like a knife. I was sitting here on the beach because I had tried to kill myself. Why did I try to kill myself? Because Noah was no longer living. There was no point for me to live now.

In addition to the water that was dripping from my face a million tears began to fall as well. I looked up at Connor's face. He had no idea.

"What happened Mel?" he asked, wrapping his arms around my shoulders while I sobbed into his t-shirt.

"Noah," I barely managed to get it to come out right. It just sounded like a bunch of letters jumbled up together.

"What?" he didn't understand. I really doubted that the police found Noah's body yet. I bet my parents didn't even know about it yet considering the fact that no one was home. I was the only one to discover it so far…

"Noah's dead," I said it louder this time, my voice cracking.

He tensed up and pulled away from me, shaking his head from side to side frantically, "He…he's…dead?"

I nodded before the tears blurred my vision and I couldn't see Connor's face any longer, "I found him…in the…the…bathroom…" the words didn't sound right when they came out of my mouth, "There was….blood…just blood everywhere."

He hugged me tightly once again, "You found him?"

I nodded once again, "So I…I jumped."

He muttered something under his breath, "It's gonna be ok, Mel," he told me, "You're gonna be ok." It was a lie because I knew for a fact that I wouldn't be ok. I sobbed a little bit more before he finally pulled me up to my feet, "Can you stand?" he asked, holding me by my elbow.

"Yeah," I choked out, moving one foot in front of the other when I was on my own two feet. The images of the scene I walked into kept flashing in and out of my head, causing me to cry even more than I was a second earlier. I don't remember much of what happened next. What I do remember is seeing a dark figure standing at the edge of the forest and watching me closely as Connor lead me off of the beach. But the second I looked away and then decided to look back it was gone.

***

Day 1: Come home from Connor's place and find my parents in the house talking to the police. The bathroom door is closed.

Day 2: Police question me. Mom plans Noah's funeral. I stay in my room while dad drinks two whole six packs.

Day 3: Noah's wake. I look at Noah and notice how good they covered up his wounds with makeup. With one kiss on his freezing cold cheek, I say goodbye.

Day 4: Noah's burial. I watch as they bury my life six feet under the ground. I watch as my last hope slips away.

Day 5: Dad drinks. Mom stays in her room crying. I stay in my room listening to Noah's favorite songs while I try to drown out the sound of sobs and clinking of glass bottles.

Day 6: I stare at Noah's bedroom door for at least an hour, waiting for him to burst through and pull me into a hug. It never happens…

Night of Day 6:

I lay in my bed, afraid to close my eyes because I might see it again. The dream was something I wasn't expecting. But I guess having to see my brother lying in a casket with a fake smile on his face was bound to affect me at some point or another. Lowering him down six feet into the ground had to have something to do with that too. Seeing your mother crying her eyes out like she's just lost a son probably helped as well. Well technically she did lose a son…but I don't think she ever really considered Noah her son let alone me her daughter. We were a mistake, Noah told me once when I was ten, mom and dad didn't want to have us, but they didn't have the balls to get rid of us either. The funny part about that story was that I believed him. I always listened to what he said. He was the only moral person I knew.

Knew…

It's weird how I can only talk about him in the past tense now.

I rolled onto my back and stared up at the ceiling, the pain seeping into my system again. I didn't even cry at Noah's funeral. He wouldn't want me to cry. My mother just didn't know Noah as well as I did. He used to hate it when people started to get all sappy around him.

Used to…

My heart twisted at the words. I don't think the fact that he's not here has set in yet. Sure I saw him dead with my own eyes, but I still feel like he's sleeping down the hall in his own bed, snoring with drool dripping out of his mouth and onto his pillow.

I rolled onto my left side now and stared at the window until I fell asleep with that last thought etched into my brain.

***

Day 7:

My annoying alarm went off too early for my liking. Without opening my eyes I slammed my hand down onto the snooze button so I could get a couple more minutes of sleep. Since Noah's dead my parents are too busy acting like they're sad to come and scream at me for not being up at the time they want me to be up at. So sleeping for at least two more minutes was an option this morning.

I kept my eyelids shut as my mind drifted. Thinking about my schedule for today made my stomach churn. First school, the place where I'd have to deal with people staring at me and constantly saying "I'm sorry for your loss," like they actually gave a crap. Before the "accident" people barely even knew who Noah was and now they're all going to act like they did. See this is why I stayed home for a week, because I was dreading the questions and the stares and the whispering. Don't even get me started on how many apple pies we've received so far…_so far._

Then after school I was going to meet my therapist for the first time. Yes, therapist. My mother figured that doing this would help me cope with what happened and well…what I saw. She was dead wrong. Therapy wouldn't help anything. It would simply make things that much worse. There was just one advantage to therapy though. It put off having to go home sooner. I would have to deal with my father and his drunken self for one hour less than I used to have to. I used to have Noah there to help me deal with him before, though. Now I was alone, a pathetic little loner.

The alarm clock went off once again and I screamed at it this time, slamming my whole fist down onto the off button. I was in no hurry to get to school on time because even if I was late then the staff would sympathize with me because of my _loss_. Ugh, here we go…

I slowly lifted my body off of the comfortable mattress with a creak of the springs and put my feet onto the cold floor. My eyes stayed closed as I stood up and started to head for my closet. I opened the door blindly and picked out whatever shirt I touched first, my hand sliding down the sleeves to make sure they were long. I grabbed a pair of jeans out of my drawer and threw them onto my bed. And on the count of three I opened my eyes, cursing at the bright sun that was shining through the clouds this morning.

After throwing on the grey top and dark tinted jeans I checked myself in the mirror. When I saw myself I couldn't help but cringe. The permanent grimace that tugged on my lips made me look thirty years older and the purple bruise-like bags that hung under my green eyes made me resemble a walking corpse. I ran a comb through my dark brown, almost black, hair and waited for it to straighten itself out. And when I was finished I stared myself up and down, still unhappy with what I saw. I looked like someone close to me died. Did I want to? No, not really.

I let out a grunt before I put my shoes on and slung my backpack over my shoulder. In no hurry at all I strolled down the hallway and took my time walking down the steps stopping on each for exactly two seconds. When I finally succeeded in making it down the stairs I saw it. My heart literally stopped inside of me. It was big, tall, and white. The knob was silver. On the other side of that door the walls were lined with blue tiles and one small white sink stood next to a toilet. Then there was the bath tub…

I swallowed the saliva that was in my mouth. My left hand grabbed my right wrist and I started snapping my trusty rubber band up against my skin, keeping my eyes forward as I walked toward it. Not once did I sneak a glance at that door. Now that I was in the kitchen I didn't need to let the thoughts of what happened behind that door enter my mind.

The stinging in my wrist didn't subside when I let go of the small rubber band to pick up the small piece of paper I left on the counter the other day with the address of the therapy clinic I was supposed to be going to after school. I folded the small piece of paper in two and put it into my pocket, grabbing my car keys before I turned on my heels again. On instinct I grabbed my right wrist and began my obsessive snapping as I walked back past the bathroom door and headed out the front door.

My 1976 ford was sitting out in the driveway with its faded blue paint and its rusting bumpers. Sure, it wasn't the best looking truck in the world. But damn did it run well. The door opened with a low groan and then closed with a high pitched screech. When I put the key into the ignition the car let out a couple small puffs until it finally felt like cooperating with me. I pulled out of the driveway as slowly as humanly possible. Could you tell that I was trying to be extremely slow this morning?

***

I stared at the school I was parked in front of and the cars that were parked around me. The only thing I could think at this point was how much I really didn't want to go in there. Since school had started about -I checked the clock- ten minutes ago I was going to get stared at when I walked into class. Ugh, maybe getting to school late wasn't such a good idea after all.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," I got out of my car and started walking towards the Quileute Tribal School…also known as hell.

As soon as I walked through the front doors I could tell how this day was going to be, terrible. My feet shuffled in the direction of the office and I kicked the door open with my foot since it made me feel a little bit better about where I was and who was here.

The old woman behind the desk let out a loud sigh which indicated that she hated her job. As soon as she saw me though, her eyes seemed to light up and her posture straightened up.

"Ms. Owens," she greeted, "It's nice to have you back."

"Yup," I popped my "p."

She fumbled around in her chair and before I could even get close to the desk she said the words I was dreading to hear, "I'm sorry about your loss."

My body stiffened, but I didn't say anything in response to her words. They were empty apologies. No one could say they were sorry unless they _truly _meant it, then maybe just maybe I would accept their apology and say thanks. I kept my mouth clamped shut and quietly took my late slip from her without saying thanks.

My head started hurting the minute I got out of the office. So this was what it was going to be like, huh? I was going to get a headache every time someone said sorry to me? Well that's just wonderful.

I shook my head back and forth, "Look at what I have to go through because of you," I whispered, "I wish I could've taken the easy way out too."

I babbled to myself like this all the way to my first period classroom, which was physics if I remember correctly. It would be just like me to walk into the wrong class. I looked up at the room number, 115, oh who really cares if it's the right class or not…

I kicked the door open with my foot again and stepped inside, thinking nothing of my actions. My eyes grazed over the teacher who had grey hair and a grey beard that hung off of his chin. Yup, this was definitely Mr. Snyder, my cruel physics teacher.

When he saw me he had to do a double take and I could see his eyes widened in surprise a tiny bit, "Good morning Melody," he stammered on his words.

"Morning," I replied dryly. I paid absolutely no attention to my peers whose eyes were boring into my back. I could hear each and every one of them whispering to one another. Well if they were trying to be sly about it then it definitely was not working. He quickly signed my slip and handed it back to me.

"Since you're late you're going to have to get the notes from someone after class," he told me, his voice weary. I could tell that I was a lot more stable then he was at the moment. How ironic is that?

I turned my head around and looked at my classmates for the first time. Exactly what I expected, each and every single person was staring at me…freaking brilliant.

"Melody?"

"Ok," I said quickly, no longer paying attention to him. The only thing I could do was stare back at the group of teenagers with a blank expression. In all of their eyes you could see sympathy, annoyance, sorrow, and uncertainty. As I walked through the aisle I scanned each of their faces, all of them the same, but only one that was different, that stood out from the rest. Brady Greene. _He _looked at me like it was the first time he got to see the world in color. _His _expression was one of complete amazement and awe.

As I walked past him our eyes met and it was my turn to look at him in a completely amazed way. Looking into those beautiful brown eyes was so spine tingling and nerve racking that I completely forgot where I was walking and managed to run into someone's desk. I didn't bother to acknowledge whoever's desk it was that I ran into though because I was too caught up in the moment to even care. Looking into his eyes made me feel like nothing else existed. My parents didn't exist, my other classmates didn't exist, and neither did the fact that my brother is dead have to exist at the moment. It was just us two. Me and…

I came to a standstill when I realized what I was saying. Brady Greene? Really? I've never said one word to the dude and now I'm suddenly talking about him like he's special or something. I sat down at my desk and sunk down into my chair. I am definitely losing my mind.

As Mr. Snyder began his lecture once again I tried to ignore the side way glances I would get from the people sitting around me. They all looked at me like they were expecting me to start bursting out into tears at any given moment. But instead of crying all I kept thinking was how ignorant all of them were. I defensively pulled my sleeves over my hands just in case someone would notice the scars on my wrists and I kept my head down because of how uncomfortable I was starting to feel. The boy sitting in front of me turned his head and looked at me from over his shoulder. I hid my face behind my hair when I realized he wasn't going to look away any time soon.

Suddenly, a low grumbling noise came from my right and my head immediately shot up in that direction only to find Brady staring down the person sitting in front of me. His expression was cold, harsh and definitely had me coiling further away from him. His lip curled up and in a matter of seconds he started shaking…he was literally shaking…

"Mr. Greene!"

Brady's head turned slowly and it only took a raise of Mr. Snyder's eyebrow for Brady to calm himself down.

"Sorry," he mumbled, his hands formed into fists on the top of his desk.

"Psycho," the kid sitting next to him said low enough so that Brady wouldn't hear him. Although by the way Brady flinched I was convinced that he did hear him after all.

My brows pressed together in confusion. Sure the kid –I think his name was Dylan or something like that- looked at me. Everyone was looking at me. There was absolutely no reason why Brady had to freak out about it. I don't even know him, so why should he care? I stared at Brady's back that was now hunched over his desk, my train of thought churning inside of my head as I did it. He reacted as if he actually cared about how I felt, like he wanted to protect me from everyone.

As soon as Brady's head started to turn in my direction I forced my eyes to look down at my hands. He was looking at me and I knew it. But I couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't looking at me because he was expecting me to cry or hoping for an outburst. It was the exact opposite of that. I raised my head and looked back at him just to be sure that I was correct. He was looking at me because he _didn't_ want to see me cry. The concerned look on his face had me convinced. Brady's lips pulled up into a small grin and before I could memorize the way he looked when he grinned he turned his head back towards the front of the class.

I didn't have enough self control to keep my eyes off of him. He was different from the rest. I could only hope that he didn't dwell on what happened, because God knows I need at least someone other than Connor to not think that I was some freaky emo girl who lost her brother.

One other thing that didn't seem to go away was the fact that even though I didn't know anything about Brady, he seemed extremely familiar to me. Like I had seen him somewhere before and the place and time just wouldn't come to me. Yes, I've gone to school with him for three years, but I've never acknowledged his presence once until now. I never truly cared about knowing Brady Greene until now.

**ok so there are a bunch of things i need to explain to you right now. **

**1. Brady is 17 and Melody is 16 going on 17 which means they are both juniors**

**2. Collin and Seth are the only other two in the pack that are still in high school (obviously) Seth's 18 and Collin's 17 (don't worry the whole pack will be in this story some time) **

**3. crap i forgot Noah was 18...was :,(**

**4. I know you might be itching to know exactly how Noah died and why the bathroom is so important (although you can probably guess why) but i'm not going to just explain his death in one specific part. Since Melody doesn't want to think about what happened and since this is in her POV we're going to make the story gradually come into her thoughts throughout the story...**

**5. The first therapy session/more of her first day back will be in the next chapter. And just so you know the therapy sessions are going to become a regular thing. **

**6. Brady Brady Brady...( i hope you know what he did...hint: it starts with an i) well what can i say about him...he's not going to try so hard with Melody in the beginning because of Noah's death and all. Don't get the wrong idea about that statement! **

**7. did you like it? did you hate it? What did you think of the Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 and all that? I didn't really want to just go into the next week and i didn't want to make the whole week into separate chapters. So i decided at the last minute that that was the way i wanted to go... hope you liked that**

**8. Setting: Middle of March **

**9. Review**

**10. Goodbye...hope you read my explanations and didn't get too bored**

**~KK **

**OH AND I'LL UPDATE SOON! :)**


	3. 2 Don't Burst My Bubble

**thank you to all of you who felt like giving this story a chance, you guys are awesome :)**

**hopefully this chapter is good...**

Song for this chapter: Time Changed Everything by Nyctalgia

Chapter 2

Don't Burst My Bubble

"I'm really sorry about what happened," the blonde standing in front of me said. I was trying to pay as little attention to her words as I could, "Noah was a great guy," I glanced up at her and tried to put a name to her bubbly face, nothing came to mind, "How are you?" an extremely concerned look appeared on her face. I stared back at her and tried to figure out why she cared. I didn't know her and I'm pretty damn sure that Noah barely even knew her either. By the looks of it, she was exactly the type of person Noah would try to avoid.

"I'm fine," I gritted my teeth together as I tried to look like I was in a hurry. Having conversations about Noah was painful. People didn't seem to understand that though because they kept asking me questions and saying they were sorry. All of those people were strangers to me.

She placed her hand on my forearm and I froze immediately, "You can talk to me if you need to."

That's when I snapped. I couldn't handle talking to this idiot that actually thought she knew who my brother was. She didn't know anything. I jerked my arm out of her grip and slammed my locker shut, turning around to face her, "Listen blondie, I don't know who you_ think_ you are, but I'm pretty certain that I wouldn't give a shit anyways. So why don't you do both of us a favor and just walk away before I do something I definitely will not regret. I'm not going to talk to you about how depressed and messed up I am. I've got a therapist for that crap. I'm pretty sure my brother didn't even know who you were either, so just turn around and walk away."

Her mouth hung open and she stared at me in shock. She obviously wasn't going to move anytime soon so I walked around her and headed for the cafeteria. My blood was boiling in my veins and I could feel the tears starting to sting my eyes. I couldn't take this anymore. Every single senior in this school was suddenly friends with my brother. Wow how amazing is that? Never once did he mention having a blonde friend or being friends with the star quarterback. I'm pretty sure Noah hated people like that. People who thought they could get themselves involved into other people's business with no questions asked. Well I wasn't going to take that.

I wiped my cheeks dry as I walked through the cafeteria doors and I stalked off into the lunch line. This day was horrible. No one would leave me alone and let me sit back and relax. No one let me forget for one single second that my brother was dead. I wish I could forget. I bit my lip and prevented myself from crying, moving through the lunch line slowly and steadily.

After I paid the woman for my food I headed for my usual table. Or so I thought…

A familiar face started walking towards me. A face I felt like punching. A face I didn't want anything to do with right now. Before I could even consider an escape route he took two long strides and was suddenly standing right in front of me. Logan was Noah's best friend. He was the only friend I knew Noah had, except for Logan's girlfriend Cynthia. They were the only two he ever mentioned.

Logan stared at me with his dark brown eyes that looked distraught. His short light brown hair was a mess compared to what it looked like other days. He was grieving just like I was when the only thing he should be doing is counting his blessings. I wanted to hit him so bad.

He shifted his weight from his left foot to his right while his hands were practically cemented into his pockets, "Hey Melody."

I gripped my tray tightly as I tried to compose myself enough to say something back, "Don't talk to me," I took a step to my left in hopes that I could walk around him, but he moved along with me and stood his ground.

I looked up into his eyes, but he wouldn't look at me. His eyes were focused on something else, "I just wanted to say…" he paused for a moment, his lips pressed together in a hard line, "That…that…I feel like shit."

"Good," I stepped to my right in another attempt, no such luck.

"Just hear me out, ok?" he put his hands on either of my shoulders so that I wouldn't try to leave again.

"No, there's no way I'm going to listen to _you,_" I tried to shrug his hands off of my shoulders, "What's done is done. You can't take back what you did."

He shuddered, "I'm sorry, I didn't know-,"

"Save it," I cut him off. I wasn't exactly ready to hear what he was going to say next. I couldn't let him say those painful words out loud.

Just when I thought I wasn't going to be able to escape the conversation I didn't want to have at the moment, Connor cut in to save me.

"Logan, you know you can't fix anything right now," he said like the good friend he was.

Logan's eyebrows furrowed and I swear I could see tears starting to take form in his eyes, "I know," he barely whispered, "I'm so sorry Mel."

I closed my eyes, no longer feeling stable. After hearing every single person in this school say those words I didn't want to hear them again, especially not if they were coming out of his mouth. He was half the reason why Noah was dead right now. Connor put his hand on the small of my back and started to lead me away.

"Just go Logan," Connor told him. I was glad that Connor was speaking for me at the moment because I didn't think that I could do it. Not without strangling him. And I would do it if I had the chance to.

"Thank you," I spoke softly, finally opening my eyes again.

He sighed, "Don't mention it."

I managed to reach the table without falling over or crying my eyes out. We both took our usual seats, me sitting on one side with Connor sitting in the seat straight across from me. Usually we would be sitting with Logan and Cynthia and…Noah. But today it was just us two. And that's how it's going to stay for the rest of the year because I wasn't going to let Logan come near me ever again.

I looked to my left and stared down at the seat next to me. That's where he usually sat, with his leather jacket slung on the back of the chair. I would always look at him and think about how good he was at hiding how he truly felt. His eyes were green, just like mine, but never once did they reveal how he was really feeling. His black hair hid one of his eyes while the other was out in the open for everyone to see. And never once did I see a sense of unhappiness in them. Though living the way we do you'd expect him to be terrible at hiding his feelings.

"Mel!" Connor's voice brought me out of my trance.

"Sorry," I looked down at my tray to see what I bought. One apple, a carton of milk, and something I couldn't really put a name too. All I can say is that it didn't really look like food. My nose wrinkled in disgust at my random picking of lunch items. It just goes to show you how unfocused I am today.

"You ok?" he questioned.

I nodded.

He watched me carefully for a couple minutes just to be sure that I wasn't lying, and then he proceeded on with his attempt at trying to make some small talk, "You should get a restraining order against him," I didn't have to look at his face to know who he was glaring at. I hope Logan saw him.

I sighed loudly, "Maybe I will," I twisted the apple by its stem and watched it twirl from side to side, "But Logan was Noah's best friend."

"So, that doesn't mean anything. He's the one who…" he realized what he was saying when I started squirming uncomfortably in my seat, "Well…you know what I'm getting at."

I looked at the people around me, sitting at their lunch tables, chatting happily with one another, "Noah would tell me to forgive him. He'd tell me it really wasn't his fault."

Connor shut his mouth then and didn't make a single sound. There was really nothing he _could_ say after I told him that. My eyes soon landed on the Quileute boys, Seth, Collin, and lastly Brady. The only one I was really looking at was Brady though. His lips were pulled up into a wide grin and I watched in curiosity as he talked with his friends. To think that all these years I didn't even bother to look at him, to see how different he really was from everyone else. Now all I can think about is how much calmer I feel just when I see Brady's face. All my worries seem to wash away. Before I knew it, I was caught. Brady actually caught me looking at him. I could feel my cheeks turning a deep red shade as I whipped my head around, feeling embarrassed.

"So, did you see anyone?"

I blinked a couple of times to clear my head. My mind came up blank when I tried to think about what Connor had just said to me, "What?" I blurted out.

He sighed, "You're spacing out a lot today."

"Sorry, now what were you saying?"

"I asked you if you saw anyone, you know when you were on the beach after you decided to jump off a cliff."

I raised one eyebrow, "No," I searched for any other answer because I felt like the one I was giving him was a lie, "Why do you ask?"

He shrugged one shoulder while he took a drink from his water bottle, "I don't know maybe I'm delirious but I could've sworn I saw someone standing over you when I got there."

I glanced at Brady out of the corner of my eye; he wasn't looking anymore, "I don't know, Connor. I really don't feel like thinking about that day right now."

"Right, sorry for bringing it up. I was just curious."

"It's ok," my voice trailed off as I got lost in my thoughts once again. The rest of lunch went by in a blur, as did my next class and the one after that. Nothing could hold my attention for too long because there were too many different things on my mind. I probably wouldn't even be able to tell you what my homework was for my previous class even though I just got out of it literally three seconds ago. I was relieved when seventh period finally rolled along. I needed to clear my head.

Since seventh period was my free period I always went into the music room alone. Today was no different. I closed the door behind me and stared at the black grand piano that no one ever used. Dust covered the black and white keys so I ran my finger over each and every one of them, watching as the particles entered into the air. I sat down on the wooden bench and rolled up my sleeves because in here I didn't have to hide my hideous scars and bruises from the world. In here I could let everything that was bothering me out of my system in a positive way for a change.

I thought of a song that fit the way I felt, Time Changed Everything by Nyctalgia. As my hands lightly grazed over each of the keys to get a familiarity with them I closed my eyes. And then I started to play the opening chords of the song. The only thing that was going through my mind was images of Noah. I didn't allow myself to think about the bad things that happened. I only thought about every single reason why Noah made me happy and why I was proud to call him my brother.

For one thing, he was always willing to put himself in danger if that meant protecting me. Like when we were little, he'd be the one to take the beating from our father first. He would get the worst of it while I only suffered the least of it. Second, he cared so much for me. Noah always hated when he saw cuts on my wrists. He understood why they were there, but that didn't mean he liked them being there. Third, he was a unique human being. Unlike other older brothers, he never once tried to pick fights with me. If he was angry at something, he would try not to take it out on me. I think the reason why he did this was because he understood how much pain I already had to go through because he was going through the same thing. He was also the only person I've ever met that could take a crappy piece of plywood and turn it into a masterpiece. Noah was the most talented person I knew. And now the world won't ever be able to see that side of him.

I felt the waterworks starting to make their way down the sides of my face as my fingers went over each correct chord and key. I had taught myself how to play piano a long time ago. It's the only form of peace that I know. It keeps me intact.

Fourth, Noah always seemed positive. I'm sure on the inside he must've felt damaged, but he didn't let that show. Whenever I would be in a bad mood, he'd find a way to cheer me up. Whether that be taking me on a road trip to some unknown, faraway place or just talking me through the things that were bothering me. I could always count on him. Now I have no one to count on, absolutely no one.

I slammed my hands down onto the piano and sobbed softly, watching as the teardrops fell down onto the instrument. My shoulders shook as I cried and as the tears kept coming I let the bad things in my life start to eat away at me.

First, my parents hated me. My mother stayed at work for as long as she could just so she wouldn't have to come home to see her shitty, messed up family. My dad, well let's just say drinking is the only thing he's capable of. He's really good at getting drunk. Second, I hurt myself to the point where I don't even care if I end up dead. Life wasn't worth the stress and the constant struggle of trying to get through the day without a scratch on you. Third, Noah was dead. He was the only person I could rely on, not including Connor. Noah was the only positive part of my life. And now he was gone. Fourth, well to put it simply, my life had no more meaning.

I put my hands over my face and cried for as long as my body would allow. By the end of the period I had nothing left in me. Not even a small sniffle. My body ached with the pain of losing him and it was hard to stand up, but somehow I did it. As I walked through the hallway to get to my last class I felt like I was having some sort of out of body experience. Like my legs weren't really moving and I wasn't actually in control of my movements. I wasn't surprised when people's expressions started to change once they got a good look at me. My eyes were bound to be big, red, and puffy. I didn't feel like hiding my feelings anymore. I wasn't as good at that as Noah used to be.

Once again I sat there in my desk feeling nothing, hearing nothing, and listening to complete nothingness. It was like I was in a little bubble, a fragile bubble. A bubble where it was just me and my pestering thoughts and if someone were to disturb that bubble it would immediately burst.

My head started to hurt when there was only five minutes left of class. I think the only reason why it was being a little jerk was because of the whole therapy session I had right after school. Ugh, I really didn't need to talk to a stuck up smart person right now. I didn't need to talk to anyone for that matter. The last bell finally rang, signaling the end of the school day and technically the beginning of my everyday what ifs.

I stood up from my seat and went over the questions in my head. What if dad was already drunk? What if he was more drunk than usual since Noah's dead? What if he finally sees the cuts on my wrists? What if Noah were to suddenly come back, would he still hurt both of us? Would he ever regret what he's done to us?

Right before I could answer the last question on my own I felt myself bump into something big, tall, and warm. My eyes snapped up in search of the strangers face as I started to panic.

"I'm so sorry I-," the words got caught in my throat when I realized who it was, Brady. I swallowed the words down and tried to say them again, "I wasn't paying attention."

He smiled an extremely kind smile, "Don't worry about it."

I shook my head from side to side, "Today's just not my day."

His expression hardened and his lips no longer seemed kind, they seemed more cautious now, "It's fine, really. You did nothing wrong."

"If you say so," I sighed loudly. How embarrassing.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

I looked up at his face, please tell me he's not talking about -

"I didn't hurt _you_ did I?" his eyes grew frantic with worry.

_Thank You, _I thought. Finally someone wasn't asking that question for the wrong reason, "I'm fine," I replied quickly, "Just a little crazy, but that's ok…crazy is pretty normal for me, actually. I'm just…crazy," Did I really just say I was crazy? Wow, I'm an idiot.

He chuckled, "Good to know."

I closed my eyes, my cheeks turning red, "Yeah, like I said, today's not my day," I walked around him, but his hand grabbed my arm and he stopped me from leaving the room. I spun around and faced him, my eyes growing wide from how close he was to me right now.

"Do you still need those notes for physics?"

I slammed my palm onto my forehead, "Crap, I totally forgot about those."

He laughed softly, "Here, take them," he handed me his notebook and for the slightest second our fingers touched. His was extremely warm while mine was probably freezing cold.

"Thanks," I replied, my voice shaky from the physical contact.

"And about that project-,"

"Project?" I peered up at him. I don't remember anything about a project. What project?

"Yeah, Mr. Snyder assigned us a project and we got to choose our partners. So, I figured since you didn't choose anyone and I didn't choose anyone then we could maybe…be partners?"He half smiled and let me tell you it was one of the most breathtaking smiles I've ever seen.

I wondered why Brady felt like being so generous all of a sudden. Never once has he even bothered to look at me and now he suddenly wanted to be partners for a project I didn't even know the first thing about. Did he really want to fail?

"I guess so, but I'm just warning you I really have no idea what we're supposed to be doing."

"Well luckily I do," he winked at me.

I raised one eyebrow, "Thanks," I said, "For the notes I mean. I haven't really been able to focus today," my eyes shifted down to the floor.

"It's ok," he brushed his finger up against my wrist and a sudden shiver ran up and down my spine. Somehow I knew that those two simple words had a double meaning to them. Even though I barely even knew _him _I was positive about that, "I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?"

I nodded with my mouth hanging open as I stared at him, "Yeah, tomorrow."

His smile grew even wider, "I'm Brady by the way."

"Melody," I responded simply.

He looked into my eyes and I mean _really_ looked into my eyes, "Bye, Melody."

I felt myself starting to get lost in those big innocent looking pools of brown, "Bye," the words barely even came out as a whisper. As he walked away all I could think about was how he totally made me forget about everything that was wrong in my life.

* * *

I read the address over again on my paper just to be sure that I was at the right place. Sure enough I was. I took one deep breath and turned off my car, grabbing my backpack just in case I would need it to keep the therapist away or something. My hands clutched the sleeves of the grey shirt I was wearing while I opened the car door and headed into the clinic as slowly as I could. The woman behind the front desk was typing frantically on a computer and the whole place was cold and quiet. Way too quiet.

I walked up to the woman and cleared my throat so she would notice that I was standing there. Although this place was pretty dead silent so she had to hear me coming in.

"Can I help you?" she asked with a grin.

"I'm here to see," I glanced down at my paper, "Dr. Henderson?"

She looked back at her computer and once again she started typing frantically. I tried to peek over the counter to see if she was even typing real words, but as soon as I caught a small glimpse of the computer screen she looked back up at me.

"Melody is it?"

I nodded.

"Follow me," the petite woman stood up from her seat and began to walk through the small clinic. I followed closely behind her, glancing at the walls as I did it. They were all filled with different college degrees. A bit of relief overcame me when the fact that this doctor went to college and didn't drop out was confirmed.

She led me into a small room at the end of the hall, "Dr. Henderson will be right with you. Make yourself comfortable."

A second later she closed the door and left me alone in the room. I threw my backpack down onto the floor next to a brown leather couch with a brown leather chair that was set up directly across from it. I looked at the walls around me, they were all covered in a pale blue paint and a bunch of scenic paintings were hung on each one. They all had to do with nature. One of the paintings was of the beach, another of the forest that surrounds La Push, and a third painting of a simple tree with orange leaves falling from its branches. The look this doctor was going for was obviously one that would attempt to make her patient feel relaxed and comfortable with where they were. But the paint on the walls was a color that seemed uninviting to me. One that said this place is more like a hospital; get out now while you still can. It was a nice try, but I _didn't _feel comfortable here.

The door opened with a creak behind me. I turned around slowly to find a tall and slender woman with thick rimmed glasses standing in the doorway. She had some sort of notebook in one hand and a pen in the other. Her hair was a dirty blonde color and the curls barely touched her shoulders.

She smiled at me, "Hello Melody."

I was a little creeped out by the way her voice sounded when she said my name, "Um…hi."

"Take a seat," Dr. Henderson gestured to the leather couch I was standing next to.

I fell back onto the leather couch and watched the woman as she quietly walked over to the chair and sat down gracefully. I leaned my head back and stared at the ceiling. She shouldn't expect me to answer any questions because I definitely was not going to. I couldn't trust someone I barely knew. Hell I couldn't even trust my own parents.

"Shall we get started?"

I tried not to snicker at her polite tone. Oh God that was going to get annoying…

I could feel her eyeing me from where she sat waiting for an answer, but I wasn't going to say anything. So, we just sat in silence for about five minutes. I heard her starting to write on her notebook before she started to talk again.

"For today I think it would be good if we both got to know each other. So how about this, I'll ask you a couple of questions about yourself and you can do the same to me."

Again, I didn't reply. Did she really expect me to talk to her, out of all people, about my brother? Not only were we going to talk about my brother, but also about what I saw.

"I guess I'll start then," she shifted in her seat and I was surprised at how calm her tone was. Any other person would start to get annoyed, "When's your birthday?"

I rolled my eyes. Thanks a lot mom…this really makes me feel like you care…

My foot started tapping on the floor as I just stared at the white ceiling. She wasn't sighing or showing any sign of wanting to give up yet. I quickly glanced at her, and she's still got that smile plastered on her face. Her pen started to scribble on the piece of paper again.

"It's ok," Dr. Henderson said, "I don't expect you to trust me, we just met. It'll take some time," my head slowly rose up off the couch, "But I am here to help, Melody. And I promise I will help you."

My eyes narrowed, "What if I don't want your help?"

Her expression didn't change one bit. She hesitated for a minute before speaking, "Well, do you want my help?"

I was set back by the question. Did I or didn't I want her help? Could this really help me get over my brother's death? Or would it just make things that much worse?

My eyebrows creased, "I do," I muttered.

Her smile only grew wider, "Good."

"But just so you know," I explained, "I…I'm going to have a hard time…explaining everything that happened. Noah was a major part of my life," more like my whole entire reason for living.

"I can respect that," she nodded once; "Everyone has a hard time with death, Melody. I'll help you get through this. You're not alone."

I looked down at my hands. Even though she was probably telling me the truth I still _felt_ like I was alone.

"So," she exhaled deeply, "Are you still up for a little twenty questions?"

I thought about what Noah would want me to do in this situation. If he were here right now, what would he say?

It'd probably something like I was lucky that I had someone who wanted to listen for once…I should savor this once in a life time chance. No one else was going to listen to our story like she would.

"Sure," I answered.

Her eyes glistened with joy. Either it was because she was doing her job right or because I was actually doing what she asked me to do. Both of them were reasonable possibilities.

"Alright well, I was asking you about your birthday weren't I?"

My head bobbed up and down, "April twenty first."

"Ah, so it's next month already, huh?"

"Yeah, I'll be seventeen," saying that just made me think about how this year my birthday was going to be so much worse than it used to be.

"Your turn," she half smiled now. I couldn't help but notice how pretty she really was and not to mention how young she looked. She was probably in her late twenties, thirty at the most.

"What's your first name?"

"Olivia," she said, truthfully, "You can call me by my first name if you'd like. I wouldn't mind it."

"I'll keep that in mind for next time."

And there was going to be a next time because I knew that coming here and getting help is what Noah would've wanted me to do. I was doing this because I knew that finally being able to tell someone how I feel rather than bottling it up inside of me would make Noah proud. Making Noah proud was all I really cared about right now.

**ok sooo please review! :D**

**and that song she played on the piano...you should listen to it. It's a really beautiful/sad song...i think it fits with the way she's feeling right now**

**REVIEW! :)**


	4. 3 It's For the Best

**i'm glad everyone is enjoying this story so far :)**

**hope you enjoy this chapter just as much as the rest!**

Song for this chapter- Breathe by Paramore

Chapter 3

It's For the Best

On my way home from the therapy clinic all that kept going through my head was what was waiting for me in that house. I knew for a fact that tonight wasn't going to be a pleasant one. If there was anything good I could go home to then I wouldn't be taking my sweet time to get there. If Noah was still there…well I'd be fine. I could practically feel the bruises all over my stomach already.

My hands gripped the steering wheel tightly when my personal hell came into view. I took at least four deep breaths before I found enough strength inside of me to actually turn the car off. My wrist began to sting from the rubber band that kept smacking against my skin. As I walked up the steps to my dreadful home I tried to keep my brain occupied by thoroughly going through my day, starting with the moment I stepped into school. For some strange reason when Brady entered my thoughts, I opened the front door. Without any regrets I stepped inside.

The scene that I walked into was one I've seen over a million times. My dad sat there on his lazy boy with a glass full of alcohol and a bottle sitting on the tray table next to him. He stared blankly at the TV with his bloodshot eyes while I walked silently towards the kitchen. I began to make dinner by boiling some water and putting some Prego into another pot. I leaned up against the counter and inhaled slowly through my nose.

_You can do this, _I told myself, _you can do this alone. _

The second statement didn't sound so convincing. I didn't really believe I could deal with this alone, not without Noah here to help me. But I didn't have much of a choice now did I?

Once the water began to boil I dumped in the noodles and started to stir them. The steam burned my cheeks, but instead of flinching away from the blazing heat I welcomed it. The burning sensation seemed to calm me in a way. I guess you could say I enjoyed this kind of pain because I could control it on my own. I can't control the other kind.

I leaned away from the steam and continued by stirring the sauce. The usual sound of my father cursing at the television made its appearance next, followed by the sound of vodka being poured into a cup. I checked to make sure the noodles were no longer hard before I strained them in the sink, allowing the steam to burn my skin again. Then I dumped them onto a plate and poured the sauce on top.

I looked over my shoulder and into the living room to be sure it was ok for me to bring the food to him now. Sure enough, the tray table was set up in front of him now, indicating that I wouldn't get hit for bringing his meal to him too early.

Without hesitation I picked up the plate and grabbed a knife and a fork, carrying it into the living room and setting it down in front of him. He stared down at the food like he expected it to jump off the dish and do something out of the ordinary before he grabbed his silverware and dug in. I felt shaky once I began to turn on my heels. My eyes never left his bald head while I took off my shoes and set them down onto the stairs. So far everything was fine. There was nothing being thrown, no screams, nothing. But, as soon as I saw the fork hit the plate I knew. I mentally prepared myself for what was coming next before the yelling drowned out my preparation and I had no more time left.

"What the hell is this crap you're trying to feed me?" he stood up from his chair and the table toppled over onto the ground. The spaghetti sauce flew everywhere and the plate shattered on the wooden floor. My eyes met the eyes of a monster. A cruel monster, "Do you expect me to eat this shitty meal?"

I shook my head and walked toward the mess, but before I could do anything he grabbed my arm and whipped me around in his direction, "What are you trying to kill me _too_? Is that it? You're trying to poison me!"

The way he said it, like it was my fault made everything hurt so much worse. And I knew exactly what he was referring to too. Even if he didn't know what he was saying, I did. His tight grip on my arm was cutting off my circulation and I bit my lip in pain.

"Let go of me!" I couldn't stop the words from coming out of my mouth as I struggled to get away from him. By the way his drunken eyes seemed to narrow in rage I knew more pain was to come. With my arm still in his hand he threw me backwards onto the ground. I put my hands out in back of me so my head didn't land on any broken pieces of glass. Instead of this being a good thing it turned out to be worse because as soon as I hit the ground a large piece of glass dug into my palm and I yelled out in pain.

"You ungrateful piece of shit!" He swung his foot back and less than a second later it made contact with my stomach. I closed my eyes so I wouldn't have to see the rest. After a couple more minutes of him constantly kicking me in the gut and cursing at me, he gave up and stormed out of the house. I could taste blood in my mouth and I could smell it as it oozed out of my hand. I laid there on the ground, sobbing and unable to move. I could feel the blood and vomit that was stuck in my throat slowly rise into my mouth, but I swallowed it back down so I would have one less mess to clean up.

After about ten minutes of me lying there on the ground I was finally able to sit up, wincing as I did it. I wrapped my good arm around my torso and forced myself to stop crying like a baby. Even though the pain in my gut was unbearable I didn't have to cry. I ripped the piece of glass out of my hand as quickly as I possibly could and red liquid started pouring out from the deep cut in my palm. Forgetting the pain, I dashed into the kitchen and wrapped a towel around my hand. My head started spinning from the smell of rust and salt and I leaned back up against the countertop as my vision began to blur. If I was going to pass out then so be it. At least I could avoid the fact that my intestines now feel like they've been through a meat grinder for a little while. Well look on the bright side, at least he felt like kicking me in my gut instead of anywhere close to my ribs. I probably won't be able to have kids anymore because of it, but hell who cares at this point.

As soon as my sight went back to its normal state I slowly walked into the living room and up the stairs, ignoring the mess for now. Dad probably wouldn't be home for a couple of hours. He's probably out bar hopping. Douche bag…

I stopped dead in my tracks when I reached the top of the staircase. The vomit found its way up my throat once again and I didn't swallow it back down this time. This time I ran into the bathroom and full out puked in the toilet. I sat there with my face in the bowl even after I finished because of how much pain throwing up caused me. My stomach felt like it was in knots and my hand was now throbbing because all of the blood in my body that was now rushing to the spot. I moaned from the disgusting scent of stomach acid and whatever I ate today.

Once I could bear the smell no longer I took my time in getting in the shower. I kept my arm wrapped around my stomach when I stepped inside and let the scolding hot water wash away the blood that was on my hand. I know you're supposed to run your hand under cold water when crap like this happens, but I really didn't care about that at this point. The heat felt so much better against my skin. I stood in there for a while and just thought about how ridiculously disgusting my life is. Maybe I deserve the beatings I get, maybe I don't. I figured that I do or else I wouldn't be hurt so much. But then I try to come with a reason why I do and I can't think of anything. It's funny how that works.

I shuffled into my bedroom when I was finished and immediately dug out my first aid kit so I could wrap my hand since it wouldn't stop bleeding. Most families keep one first aid kit for everyone. Since my family wasn't like most families I had my own. I'm pretty sure Noah has one too. Well had…I guess…

I carefully wrapped the cloth around my injured hand, figuring a band-aid wouldn't quite cut it this time. This was worse than usual. I've never been beaten to the point where I fear I might need stitches before. Well, I've never had to deal with this on my own either. I sighed and leaned back in the chair.

_I need you, Noah,_ I tried to make the sentence go away, but for some reason it kept coming back again every time I did. Probably because it was true, I did need Noah. I needed him now more than ever.

My eyes wandered back to the first aid kit where the small silver razor was sitting and everything that seemed logical flew out the window. I raised my hand, ready to take it so I could stop feeling so out of control.

_Don't do it, _the one small voice inside of my head made me hesitate. For some crazy reason that little voice had me moving my hand away from the razor. And somehow it sounded like- _You don't want to hurt yourself. _

"Noah," I said aloud when I heard it again. Confirming that it was his voice was all it took for me to not give into the temptation because I knew that Noah hated that I did it. Every time he would find a fresh cut on my wrist he would lecture me about it. I found myself missing his long lectures.

I slammed the drawer shut and shot up out of the chair. Hearing my conscience inside of my head and realizing that my conscience was suddenly Noah had me feeling, well, uneasy to say the least. Maybe I'm going crazy.

No wait, I already passed crazy about five years ago. Now I'm downright psychotic.

* * *

"Shit, Mel," Connor grabbed my left arm and examined my hand. I'm really glad I decided to leave the wrap on, "Please tell he didn't…"

I looked in him, confirming that he did in fact beat me. I knew that was the only thing he could be talking about because there was no other explanation for it. Connor was actually the only person I have ever told about my parents. I mean I don't think coming to school every day with a new injury would make him think everything was just fine and dandy. He was bound to find out. I'm just glad I trusted him enough to know.

"You have to report this Melody!" he practically screamed.

My eyes widened at his loud tone and I slapped his arm so he would keep it down, "I'm not reporting it, Connor. Can we please just drop this?"

Did I mention I always felt uncomfortable when I talked about it?

"Why not?" the question indicated that he was not going to listen to me, "I mean now that Noah's gone you don't have to worry about being split up."

I winced. Not only did I feel emotional pain, but my stomach started aching too. The image of black and blue bruises popped into my head. I slammed my locker shut and walked off toward my first class.

"Wait Mel! That came out wrong!" he shouted after me.

I ignored his attempts at trying to make me hear him out. This was one thing I knew he would bring up. As soon as my dad started beating me yesterday I knew it. He was going to use the whole 'Noah's dead so it's ok if you go tell the police now' card on me. I couldn't tell the police. I would have to leave La Push and even though it always rains here and it doesn't seem too interesting, it's my home. And I refuse to let my parents be the reason why I have to leave. God parents weren't an option either since I had no aunts or uncles or grandparents to rely on. I'd probably be put into a foster home because I wasn't eighteen yet.

Noah and I had a plan. We called it the 'finally we can live normal lives' plan. Sure the name was stupid and no one would get what the hell we were thinking when we came up with it, but that's the whole reason why we called it that, because no one but us would understand.

Basically the whole idea is that when I turn eighteen Noah and I are going to get away. For the first year he's in college he would go to the University of Seattle so he wouldn't have to leave me alone. Seattle's a couple of hours away so I thought it would be impossible. He thought differently. I always thought of him as the optimist while I was the pessimist. Once I applied to go there we'd both move to Seattle together. Money wasn't much of a problem…or so that's what Noah kept reminding me. He told me he had a 'finally we can live normal lives' fund hiding in his room somewhere. Don't ask me where. Needless to say that plan will never follow through. So I basically have no plan for my future. Isn't that just great.

I hadn't even realized I was sitting in my seat until the bell rang and I jumped back into reality.

"For your physics demonstrations each group is going to be able to choose from six categories," Mr. Snyder started passing out papers to everyone. I stared down at the black letters that were supposed to make up words. This crap didn't make any sense at all! "Get into your groups and decide which you'd like to attempt."

My eyes immediately went to the tall, muscular teenager I agreed to partner up with. To my surprise he was already getting up from his seat to move closer to mine and I came to the realization that that's what everyone was doing…except for me. That just goes to show you how completely oblivious I am to the world around me.

Brady somehow managed to get the kid sitting next to me out of his desk just by looking at him funny. But by his big build I'm sure if I was in his situation I would be scared shitless too. Brady scooted the desk closer to mine with a grin tugging at his smooth lips.

I looked down at my paper as soon as the word _smooth _entered my mind. Wow, I really just described Brady's lips. Where's the therapist when you need her help?

"So, looks like we're going to be having a blast," he said, a hint of sarcasm lining each of his words.

"Yeah, this is exactly what I feel like doing right now," my eyebrows rose, "What's a Wimshurst?" I questioned.

He chuckled, "I'm pretty sure that's a person."

I blushed, "My bad," damn, he's going to think I'm stupid now and then I'm going to have to find another partner, "I guess I'm just really bad at physics."

"Don't worry," Brady pretended to read over each of the categories, "I'm just as confused as you are. The only reason why I did know Wimshurst was some important physics dude was because it says it in the procedure."

I went back to the place where I found the mysterious word and scanned the sheet until I found the procedure. Right there in black ink was the name James Wimshurst, "Shows how observant I am."

Another chuckle from the six foot tall, beefy seventeen year old sitting next to me, "Alright let's just choose randomly. I really don't understand any of this and I don't plan on understanding it."

"Ok," I closed my eyes and laid my paper on the top of the desk. I pointed my index finger and waited until I felt it hit something, and then I opened my eyelids to see what I chose, "Breaking a beaker with sound? What the hell?"

"I think we just have to scream as loud as we can and see what happens," he smirked.

"Yeah, if only it were that easy."

"Come on don't be so negative, we can pull this off."

I looked at him, confused, "Oh now you're the physics whiz? About two seconds ago you were saying you sucked at this type of stuff. Did you read the procedure for this one?"

Brady shrugged, his eyes glued to mine. I stared back into his chocolate brown orbs and melted right then and there. For some reason I felt butterflies starting to flutter around in my stomach. I know it sounds cheesy and cliché, but there was no other way I could describe the light, floating on a cloud, feeling I was having right now. Maybe my dad did a lot more damage to my internal organs than I thought.

I cleared my throat and averted my gaze back to the paper, the good feeling gone. My mind didn't seem to care too much about what my eyes were reading over because the only thing I could think about was how much better I felt about everything when I looked at Brady. It was a repetition of what I was saying yesterday about how I felt calmer when I saw him, but I couldn't help thinking that way, it was the truth. My brain didn't want me to forget that the only reason why I felt a little better about my craptastic life was because I was talking to Brady Greene.

"So, want to meet up after school or something to work on this?" his tone puzzled me because he didn't sound like he felt as confused as I felt _at all_. I mean didn't he feel weird when he looked at me too? Ugh, no…no Melody he didn't…Which just makes me seem even more psychotic than I already am.

"I can't," I answered simply, "I really wish I could, but I've got…" I tapped my finger lightly while I tried to come up with something that wasn't a total lie, "I've got to be somewhere," it was a dumb excuse and he probably wouldn't buy it, but at least I wasn't completely making it up.

"Ok," hurt seeped into his tone and I immediately felt bad that I had to be so…so…not normal. That I had to go see my therapist because I wasn't normal, "Well when are you free?"

I went through my boring schedule in my head. Therapy was the most exciting thing going on this week. I'm so incredibly interesting I know. And then Seattle for the weekend. I guess I could take my road trip some other time, "This weekend's good."

"My house or you-?"

"-Yours!" shit, as if that didn't sound suspicious. I thought he would've walked off and said forget it, but instead he just laughed. He actually laughed.

"My house it is," he watched me curiously while I peeked at him out of the corner of my eye. I didn't get it, any of it. I didn't get why I suddenly felt like if I told Brady about how messed up my life was, he wouldn't judge me. I didn't know why I was getting myself into this. And the one thing I _really_ didn't get was why I couldn't find any reason to dislike Brady or why he suddenly seemed to be taking an interest in me now out of all times. I didn't get why I already felt like I knew Brady for a long time. And that made me scared.

"So since we're working on this project and all do maybe want to sit at my table for lunch?" he was standing and I didn't even notice until now. Did the bell ring?

I stood up with him and watched as everyone else walked out of the room. Wow, I'm really out of it. How long was I daydreaming for? Wait, what did he ask me about? Oh yeah, lunch. I struggled to come up with an answer to that, "Umm…" I couldn't just leave Connor alone, "Can we make it my table? I really don't want Connor to think I ditched him or something," wow, I need to learn how to socialize with normal human beings.

"Sure," he half smiled, "Guess I'll see you at lunch then."

I nodded and he turned around to walk out of the room. I grabbed my books…wait…this isn't- shit his notebook, "Brady!" I full on shouted in the empty room. As if it made a difference. He turned around, which caught me off guard and I accidentally ran into him which hurt a lot more than it should. I was about to fall backwards, but before I could hit anything Brady pulled me up in no effort at all. And then the pain made its appearance.

My stomach felt like it had the shit knocked out of it once again and I couldn't help but whine from how much running into Brady really hurt. I wrapped my free arm around my stomach while my other was still stuck in Brady's hand, his really warm hand. As soon as I looked up I saw a million and one emotions flit across his face. He knew I was in pain just by looking at me. My face said it all. I was an open book.

"Get to class you two!" Mr. Snyder demanded in his 'I'm not kidding' voice that he barely ever used. When I felt Brady's grip on my wrist –my bad wrist- loosen up a little bit I yanked it away from him and ran out the door. He never should've seen that. God he never should've seen that. Now I know he's going to get suspicious. Or maybe he would just think it was his fault.

"Melody!" I winced from how much pain his voice caused when he said my name. It sounded good coming out of his mouth which made my stomach hurt more because of the damn butterflies. Suddenly his big figure was standing right in front of me, preventing me from walking anymore, "I didn't hurt you did I?"

"No, it's not your fault," my eyes flickered between his two big hands that were grabbing my shoulders and his face indicating that I wanted him to let go. He did.

"Are you sure? Because you seemed like you were in pain or something."

Crap, I knew it. Well this just sucks, "I got hurt yesterday on my way home. It's just a couple of bruises," by the way he was looking at me I knew I didn't make myself sound convincing enough. If only I was better at this kind of stuff, "I'll see you at lunch," and to my surprise the bell rang. That's the first time something worked to my advantage. I handed Brady his notebook and with a quick thanks I turned in the opposite direction and headed to my next class. Every step of the way I could feel Brady's eyes burning right through me and my lies. He could tell something was up. If only I didn't have to run into him.

* * *

I kept my eyes on the empty seat I was sitting next to. I didn't exactly know what I was expecting to happen. The only reasonable thing I could come up with was that I wanted Noah to come over here with his lunch tray and sit in that chair, that lonely little chair.

"Why is Brady Greene coming over here?"

Crap, I forgot to tell him. Aren't I smart, "We're working on a project together so he asked me if I wanted to sit with him," I blinked repeatedly, wishing that he would appear. My wishes weren't granted.

"So he wants to talk about the project with you or what?"

Why was Connor suddenly getting so defensive? He's never acted this way before.

I closed my eyes and opened them again, nothing appeared. Since I wasn't going to get what I wanted I turned my gaze onto Connor, who was giving the evil eye to Brady, who was…sitting next to me. You'd think I would've at least heard him sit down.

"Hey," he smiled.

Hey? All he had to say was hey? After I totally lied to him about being hurt? Most guys would've bombarded me with questions that I could barely make sense of. But I guess he lost his memory? No wait, short term memory loss. Yes, that has to be it.

"Hi," I stabbed whatever was on my tray with a fork and put it in my mouth so I wouldn't have to talk if he regained some memory of what happened before.

"Wow, I really have to sit here with _him_ because you told me so and all you guys can say to each other is hey?"

My head snapped up and I kicked Connor in the shin. He didn't seem too affected by it. Maybe I'm losing my touch.

"What a waste of time."

"Leave!" I slammed my fist down onto the table and glared at my supposed friend from across the table. He stared back at me with an expression that said 'I can't believe you' and seeing that actually hurt me a little bit.

"Why doesn't _he_ leave? This is our lunch table not his!" Connor jabbed his finger in Brady's direction who for some reason was staying silent through this whole thing.

"Connor-,"

"You know what? It's not even worth it," he stood up from his seat, "Hope you two have a fun time together," and then he walked off just like that.

I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest. Why was Connor acting so weird? He's never done this before. And to be honest, Brady didn't really say anything to make him mad. So what the hell?

"Maybe I should just-,"

"No, stay," before I could stop myself I put my hand on top of Brady's arm. I would've pulled my hand away, but he was just so warm that I didn't want to. I finally looked at him and felt the wind get knocked out of me because he was…well to put it simply he was gorgeous.

He locked his eyes onto mine, "How did you hurt your hand?" Moment, ruined.

Nope, it definitely wasn't short term memory loss, "I told you I got hurt on my way home."

"You didn't tell me how."

Do I really have to? I mean I barely even knew the guy and he suddenly thought he deserved a straightforward answer, "I have no reason to tell you," I snatched my hand off of his and began eating again.

"No, you don't. I just…I keep thinking I hurt you back there."

Ok, at least he didn't say something along the lines of I think I saw your dad beating you yesterday, "Brady, that wasn't your fault believe me."

"Then what hurt you so badly that you can barely stand up straight?"

Ugh, so he noticed that…

"Nothing," I mumbled.

He paused and I turned my head to look at him, "You don't have to be afraid."

"I'm not," I shook my head, "There's nothing to be afraid of."

The look on his face told me that he didn't believe me even though I wish he would. I didn't want to get into this. If I knew he would've asked me these questions before then I would have said forget it, you can't sit here. I didn't need to talk about it.

"Please just let it go," I said as I looked into his eyes pleading with my own.

His expression softened, but his lips refused to move to form any words. I watched Brady carefully while he watched me. Every part of me was telling me that I needed someone who would listen without judgment. I got a feeling that Brady was this certain someone, but I couldn't trust that one feeling.

He grabbed my hand that was settled by my side and squeezed it, "You don't have to hide, Melody."

This is wrong.

_It's not wrong._

I shuddered when I heard that voice inside of my head again. It was the one voice I wanted to hear.

I can't do this. I'm not the type of person he wants to get close to. But I need someone like him…

_Go with your gut._

Wow, thanks a lot stupid Noah conscience voice that really helps a lot. My gut is all bruised and broken!

I unraveled my hand from his and turned my head the other way, "Hiding is the only thing I know," I whispered lowly.

No, I couldn't get close to him.

He took my last words as a sign that I didn't want to talk about this any longer and started eating his own lunch. I hate that I have to keep secrets. It was annoying and Brady was the last person that I wanted to find out about those secrets. He was so perfect that if he found out I'm afraid that he'll disappear.

So the only thing I can do is stop this before it comes to that.

* * *

"Here's his combination," the receptionist cautiously handed me a small sheet of paper with the numbers 35, 20, 10 on it.

I felt my heart stutter, "Thank you."

She smiled in an attempt to cheer me up a little bit, but of course it didn't do anything good for me. The fact that this stupid school told me I just _had_ to clean out Noah's locker today made me angry and even more depressed than I already was. They couldn't have given me another week to attempt to get over his death. No, they just wanted to torture me.

I scanned each locker and waited until I finally reached the one with the numbers 432 on the top. With a couple of deep breaths I walked up closer to it and grabbed the lock with my hand. For at least five minutes I stood there staring at the combination I was given. This was cruel. How do they expect me to do this? I can't do this, it hurts too much already. Who knows what kind of stuff he kept in there? Just knowing that it all belonged to him was enough for me.

And suddenly my fingers started moving as if I wasn't in control of them. I bit my lip just in case I felt like crying and once I pried the lock open I ripped off the band-aid and looked inside. His books were scattered all over and his favorite sweater hung on the hook inside.

As my eyes began to water I grabbed the sweater and immediately brought it up to my nose. It smelled of tobacco and pine, just like him. I felt a couple teardrops fall onto the fabric, but all I could do at the moment was take in his scent of tobacco and pine.

"Melody?"

I stopped breathing as soon as I heard him…Logan. My eyes wandered until they found his face. His brows were knit together in frustration.

"You're cleaning out his locker?" he questioned.

I didn't know what to say. Of course he would be curious about what was in Noah's locker. He was Noah's best friend. But after what he did, I don't think I could consider him a friend of my brother's anymore.

I started grabbing as much of his stuff out of the locker as fast as I could. It didn't take Logan long to protest against my actions.

He grabbed my wrist, "Let me help you."

I shook my head frantically, "Just get away from me, Logan. I don't want to talk to you."

He sighed, "Stop blaming me for something I didn't do."

I let out a small sob before I sucked in my tears and faced him, "You're partially the reason why I'm doing this right now. If you didn't..." I couldn't say the words out loud, "then he could still be alive right now."

"It would've happened one way or another with or without my input."

"You can't know that!" I shouted, my heart pounding loudly inside of my chest.

He narrowed his eyes at me, "Yes, I can. I know that this wasn't just a coincidence. Even_ you_ know this wasn't something that just happened. It was eventually going to come to this."

I couldn't take this anymore. It was ripping me apart from the inside out, "Stop it."

"No, I'm not going to stop!" he started to tighten his grip on my wrist. Great more injuries to worry about, "Noah was my friend. I'm not just going to let you blame me for his death!"

Death, the word was like a knife to my heart, "Get away from me!" My voice was shaky, but I kept my stance.

"Not until you open up your eyes and see whose fault this really is. I sure as hell know I didn't kill him. He-,"

"Shut up! Just shut up!" I cut him off because I knew what he was going to say next and I knew that I would fall apart if he did say it. At this point I didn't even care that I was crying my eyes out in the middle of the hallway. I didn't even care that everyone was listening.

He gritted his teeth and stared me up and down. He was trying to get me to forgive him, but I couldn't find it in me to do that. Not now…not ever if he was going to do _this_ to me.

"She told you to leave," I suddenly found myself being guarded by Brady. He stood in front of me, blocking my view of Logan. Even if I couldn't see Logan's face I knew what it probably looked like right now. Confused, pissed off, and maybe even scared since Brady managed to tower over him.

"Fuck off," Logan spat at Brady.

Brady's hands clenched into fists and he started trembling frantically, "Let go of her," he spoke slowly, "Or else I'll make sure you never see the sun rise again."

I watched as the junior scared the shit out of the senior. That's surely something you don't see every day.

"You're bluffing," Logan's voice sounded shaky.

"Am I?" Brady took one step away from me and closer to Logan which caused him to slowly let go of me and back away from us.

I waited until Logan was completely out of sight until I turned my attention back on to Brady. His muscles seemed to relax as he slowly turned to face me and he stopped shaking. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion when the reality of what just happened set in.

"You didn't have to do that," I said.

He pursed his lips, "You wanted him harassing you like that?"

I began to grab Noah's stuff again, "No, it's just…I don't know," tears were still rolling down my cheeks, but I barely noticed. Not until Brady wiped one away with his finger. That's when I stopped what I was doing and took a minute to calm down.

"What's wrong?" he asked in a soothing voice.

I wiped the salt water off of my face, "I can't do this," I whispered.

"Can't do what?"

I wasn't listening to my conscience anymore, "I'm not someone you want to be friends with Brady. I can't let this go any further."

He paused, "What are you saying?"

I took one deep breath, "I'm saying that after this project is over with…let's just go back to the way things were. Where you wouldn't even bother to look my way and I wouldn't mind it. I'm better off alone."

He looked hurt and confused at the same time, "You're not better off alone, Melody."

I took one last look inside the locker and made sure that I got everything out of there before I replied, "Yes…I am. My life isn't normal. Nothing about me or my life is good."

"And you think I'm good?"

"I know you are," I looked up at his face, "Please, Brady. It'll be easier this way."

Something about his expression made me feel uneasy. It was as if he was denying everything I was saying to him inside of his head. Which made me feel like I was doing something wrong.

"If that's what you want."

I nodded, "You've got everything you need Brady. I'll just be in the way."

He flinched, but I couldn't understand why. I felt bad about what I just did, but it had to be this way. He didn't need someone like me in his life. And I didn't deserve someone like him. So, this is better…

He looked me in the eye for a long minute, "I'll stay out of your way then," It seemed as if he had a hard time saying the words out loud.

I took a risk and put my hand on his warm cheek, "You'll be fine without me."

Brady leaned into my palm and then he put his hand on top of mine and took it off of his face, "I'll see you tomorrow, I guess…"

God don't do this to me, "Ok," I agreed and watched as he looked at me for a slight second with pain written all over his face. Before I could say something else he turned on his heels and walked off.

This was the right thing to do. I couldn't let him find out about my life at home. I was sure that he wouldn't want to be stuck with someone who's as messed up as I am. So, letting him go now was for the best…I hope.

**OMG! New Moon! it was awesome lol...now i know why i'm Team Jacob :) **

**now back to this story**

**the reason why Melody doesn't want to get close to Brady is because she's unstable and in the back of her head she figures that she won't even be living much longer because she doesn't want to live and if Brady starts growing feelings for her then it'll hurt him. She doesn't want to hurt him. **

**don't worry though, good things will happen. Lots of exciting stuff too :D**

**if i don't update before Thanksgiving or on Thanksgiving then **

**HAPPY THANKSGIVING! *throws streamers***

**Review!**


	5. 4 Even the Wolf Thinks I'm Crazy

**i'm so sorry that i haven't updated in like 2 weeks, but i've been extremely busy. It's not even funny. Exams are next week for me so i'm not sure when my next update will be. But i have something that might help you when you're waiting! **

**So i was reading a fanfiction and the author had this idea to make a private twitter account where she writes tweets about what's going on with her story and i thought that'd be a good idea. So i made my own account. My username is FanfictionKK (i know its weird but i couldn't think of anything else, don't hate!) **

**just follow me and in your review tell me your account name so i know it's not a creeper (or if you don't feel like revealing your account name on twitter then email me) **

**ENJOY!**

song for this chapter- World So Cold by Three Days Grace

Chapter 4

Even the Wolf Thinks I'm Crazy

I watched as Dr. Henderson wrote in her notebook. Her hands moved swiftly as the pen glided across the page. I could only imagine the types of things she was writing in there. Things that I probably wouldn't want to see, personal thoughts, or maybe even her opinions on my newly injured hand. I felt my good hand grab my wrist defensively. Whichever it was I knew I wouldn't be stable if I read it. I could feel it.

Olivia. I think that's what I'll call her from now on; it makes this whole thing seem less scary. Olivia looked up at me once her hands stopped their frantic movement. She smiled a calm smile and then it began.

"So, how was your day today?" she asked.

It was a simple question and I figured I'd answer it simply, "Alright."

"Yesterday?"

This question for some reason didn't seem so simple. Even though it was one word -one single word with three syllables- it seemed to have a lot more depth to it than it should.

_Tell her the truth. _

I bit my lip so I wouldn't try to answer the voice out loud. The only thing I could think was he was crazy.

_Tell her. _His voice was demanding it now.

I can't.

_Yes you can. _

I won't do it. I refuse to do it.

_Do it for me, Melody._

Of course, he had to say that. Even though I was sure this wasn't really him talking to me in my head it's something he would say…if he were alive.

"Not so good," my statement made Olivia's grip tighten on her notebook. She was getting somewhere. We both knew it. I didn't want to do it…I still don't want to do it…

"How so?"

I can't tell her.

_Try._

The word was tattooed into my brain. It was sticking like glue and manipulating my actions I figured. Because the next thing I knew I was spitting out the truth.

"I got hurt," I looked down at my injured hand, letting go of everything that I had tried keep a secret from the world, "I was pushed."

She stared at me with an unreadable expression. I didn't know if I had to go any further for her to understand or if she already knew. Her face didn't tell me anything. I could feel my throat starting to close up inside of me. I had already gone too far and I wouldn't say anything else, not even if _he_ wanted me to.

The familiar sound of a pen scribbling onto a piece of paper returned. Olivia didn't say anything, I didn't say anything. Nothing but the sound of that black pen could be heard in the room. The only thing I could do was listen to the noise and pick at the fraying pieces of the cloth around my hand. I was afraid of what she would do, but hoping that nothing would happen if she knew just from me saying those simple words. Other than that I didn't know how else I should feel. Maybe angry with Noah for being the manipulator inside of my brain or disappointed with myself for listening to him…or it…whatever.

"I want you to try something today, Melody," I didn't look up, but I stopped picking at my hand to let her know I was listening, "I want you to start writing in a journal."

When she said journal I peered up at her. Somehow in the minutes that I wasn't paying attention she must've gotten up and went to her desk because in her hand was a red leather book.

"What do I have to write?" I asked.

She shrugged one shoulder and handed me the book, "Anything you want. You can keep it for yourself. I won't read it or ask you to give it to me. This is for your benefit. It doesn't have to make sense it could just be a bunch of words written on a page. The only thing I truly want you to do is write in this whenever you feel overwhelmed or stressed or even happy," My hands grazed over the leather, "Letting it out in some way is always a good thing."

The only thing I thought at this point was that I had to give it a try. I clutched the book with my hands, staring at it like it was something that would save me. I knew it really couldn't save me, but who am I to stop myself from thinking that way?

As soon as the session was over with for the day I got into my car and drove to the beach. It was the first place that popped into my head in my list of places to escape to for a little while. I walked along the shoreline with my journal in hand and my bag slung over my shoulder. The wind blew in my face, causing the waves to crash up against the cliffs with so much force that I couldn't help but watch the natural scene in front of me. I waited until I found the spot where me and Noah used to sit at and then I planted myself down in the sand. I took my shoes and socks off and let my feet dig into the mush while I soaked my ankles in the salt water.

I sat up against the piece of driftwood behind me and opened up to the first page. With my pen in hand I tried to come up with what I wanted to write down. But there was no need for that, because it seemed to just come to me as soon as the ink touched the paper.

_Noah, _

_You left me without warning. And you gave no signs as to when you were going to leave me alone. How could you? How could you do it when you know how bad things are? Things have gotten worse ever since you left. You were supposed to protect me. You promised me you would always look out for me. And now you're gone…forever. There's nothing I can do to bring you back. There's no one here who could take your place either. Maybe there's someone who could come close to filling up this huge hole inside of me, but I have yet to find them. I don't think I ever will find them. I'm not writing this to yell at you, although I'm pretty sure you won't ever read this, I'm writing it because I want closure. I need to know why you couldn't fight. I want to know why it seems like I wasn't a good enough reason for you to live. I need answers Noah, but you didn't give me any. So now what? Am I supposed to listen to your voice constantly tell me that I should let the truth come out? Ugh, I have no idea what you expect me to do… _

_Despite the way this whole thing might have made me sound… I love you, _

_Melody _

I stared down at the page when a sudden feeling overcame me. It was like someone was watching me. I glanced over my shoulder and scanned the area. There was absolutely no one there, no one that I could see with my own eyes at least. I closed the book in my hand, the feeling never fading as I put my shoes on and walked back to my car. Even though my keys were already in the ignition and the car was running I sat there, staring out my windshield and into the evergreens that lined the beach. Though I'm sure my mind was playing tricks on me I could've sworn in the minutes I sat there I saw something big, huge, and brown run through the trees.

When I saw the flash of color go in and out of my view, I drove. Believe me I wasn't in any hurry to get home I just took the sighting as a sign that I should leave. So I basically drove through each and every street in La Push until my truck was practically running on empty. And the fact that it was getting dark outside forced me to go home as well. I was hoping today that if I stayed away from that house for as long as nature would allow then I could avoid getting kicked in the gut.

Without any hesitation I stumbled out of my truck and slammed the door behind me. That unsettling feeling immediately returning as soon as the familiar creak of my door made its appearance. I started walking at a normal pace while my eyes darted in every direction that they possibly could. Again, I couldn't see anyone or anything close enough for me to see in the small amount of light that the moon provided me with. I shrugged it off as nothing when I opened the door, silently hoping that today would be better than the last.

Before I did anything I took my surroundings in. There was the lazy boy, there was the tray table, and the remote…but no monster. My foot kicked the front door closed and when the door clicked shut there he was, standing in the kitchen doorway. There was something off though. His eyes weren't as bloodshot as usual and in his hand was a beer instead of vodka or whiskey. Yes, something was definitely different.

I didn't dare to say one word as I took off my shoes, my eyes never leaving his as he stared me up and down, taking a sip of his beer every other second. I tried to figure out what was going on when I found my answer walking down the stairs.

"Mom?" I questioned, shock slightly seeping into my tone.

She looked at me for a moment, her lips formed into a hard line. I didn't have to guess anymore to know what was going on before I walked through the door. They were fighting, as always. Mom was home early probably because my dumb ass of a father got himself into trouble and she had to leave work to get him _out_ of trouble…again. I sighed to myself when I realized how stupid I was for not recognizing what this was earlier. I wasn't going to get off any easier now than I did yesterday. Instead of being kicked in the gut I was going to have to endure the wrath of my parents fighting with each other. This wasn't much better.

My mother didn't say anything to me as she walked around my father and threw a TV dinner into the microwave. I took that as my cue to leave, but before I could head up the stairs my father grabbed my arm. I could feel my heart literally stop inside of my chest. Not only was he more pissed off than he was yesterday, but he was also sober. Who knows what he could do to me when he's sober.

I stood there frozen, listening as the alcohol rattled in the can while my father chugged it down.

"Don't tell your mother about anything that happened yesterday, you hear?" he whispered in my ear.

I couldn't even manage to nod as the smell of the alcohol lingered in my nose. But that was obviously something I shouldn't have done because before I knew it he slapped me across the face with the palm of his hand. I didn't react to it, thinking that he would do more to me if I did. The only thing I could think was that I had to answer him so I could leave.

"Y-Yeah," my lips trembled as the word rolled off of my tongue.

My stomach dropped when he let go of me and I sighed in relief when he walked into the kitchen so the brawl could begin. I looked into the doorway to see if my mother had noticed that at all. When I saw her pulling the cheap excuse for a dinner out of the microwave I knew she didn't. Or she just didn't care.

I walked up the stairs and went into the bathroom to see how red my cheek was. As soon as I caught a glimpse of my face in the mirror I closed my eyes so I wouldn't have to see the full extent of the damage done. And then, as if on some sort of cue, the screaming began. I knew from experience that I shouldn't try to understand what they were yelling about. I was better off not knowing.

I ran a rag under cold water and put it on my cheek as a substitute for ice while I shuffled across the hall and into my bedroom. I made sure I closed the door and locked it just in case. When I got settled in my small window seat I put my headphones in my ear and turned my i-Pod on full blast so I could drown out all of the other unnecessary noises that surrounded me at the moment. As I tapped my foot on the floor I stared out into the black night and up at the millions of stars that draped the sky.

I thought about how much beauty the world out there held. There was no beauty in this hell hole. The only small portion of that was gone now. And I kept thinking about how it, how _he_ was never coming back. There was no one here to protect from this place anymore. He left me out here in the open to fend for myself. I felt like a worm. A worm that was hung on a hook and thrown into the water to be eaten by the fish that populated the area. The worm waits and dangles on the hook in the unknown territory while the fish nip at it until there's nothing left. That's how I felt, like I was being nipped at by a bunch of vicious fish.

My headphones seemed to be slacking tonight. Even they couldn't drown out the shouting that was traveling up the stairs and into the hallway. I kept my eyes on the stars while I once again questioned how Noah could leave me here dangling in the water. It doesn't make sense to me how one day he's here telling me to count on him and the next he's out _there_ somewhere. It seems hypocritical to me. I bit my bottom lip and tried to erase the thoughts from my mind, telling myself that he had his reasons and he had good reasons for leaving me. But those thoughts were overpowered by the cruel ones.

He left me. He didn't care. He never cared. If he did, he would've stayed. But he didn't. So, he doesn't. He stuck a hook through me and threw me into the waters with a smile on his face. He's looking down at me right now, watching as the fish eat away at me, not caring about what happens.

I tugged the headphones out of my ears and threw my i-Pod across the room, covering my face with my hands. I sobbed out of anger. I felt numb and the shouting that was coming from the other room only made me feel even worse. Before I could even think things through my hands were ripping open the glass window and I was preparing to scale the tree that was close enough to my house for me to use as an escape from that terrible place. I managed to climb down with only a couple scratches on the palms of my hands. I didn't feel anything though. There was no pain. There was absolutely nothing left inside of me.

I walked through my backyard and stopped when I reached the end of the forest. With one deep breath in and out I started sprinting through the forest as fast as I possibly could. The wind was cold against my face while I ran against it. I didn't care to look where I was heading or how far away I managed to get from the house. There was no looking back. I couldn't look back. The silent tears rolled down my face as I kept running at an even pace. And as soon as the waterworks started it got harder to breathe. So, I slowed down until I was eventually walking. My throat was clogged and my vision was blurred from the tears. I started to feel my legs wobble and then my knees gave out and I was lying there in the mud.

I didn't understand how I was still living when so many emotions were running through my system right now. Anger, frustration, sadness, confusion, betrayal, and a lot more that I couldn't even name at this point. The worst thing of all though, was the unbearable pain I felt in my chest. The huge gap on my left side was only growing bigger the longer I cried. In an attempt to let all of that go I screamed at the top of my lungs. The only thing that did for me was make my blood boil even worse than it was before. I felt hurt and I wanted to make it known whether he could hear me or not.

"You're so selfish!" I yelled, lifting myself up so I was now on my knees, "I hate this! I hate having to feel this way! There's no reason for it!" I finally brought myself up on my feet and grabbed the nearest tree so I wouldn't fall, "It's all your fault, Noah!" I didn't think about what I was really doing when I punched the bark I was grasping for support. After all, I couldn't feel the pain that action brought on because I was so numb, "I don't want to feel this way anymore!" I kept punching and the red was becoming more and more visible the longer I did it for. With one more swipe to the innocent tree I let go of my support system and fell to the forest floor once again. My eyelids slowly closed, "How could you?" I barely whispered. That one question seemed to be the only one that made much sense right now. How could he leave me when things were so bad?

I tried not to think about it anymore and attempted to clear my head as I laid there lifeless on the ground. The familiar scent of my own blood returned. I was stupid for hurting myself, but pain was all I knew.

Despite how much Noah's death hurt me and how confused I was as to why he was even gone, I loved him. He was my brother, I couldn't just hate him. It was impossible for me to hate him.

"I miss you," I murmured to the emptiness around me. My face was damp with tears and I officially couldn't move my left hand. I was convinced that my fingers were broken from punching the tree because I couldn't bend them, but who knows. I didn't have enough strength in me to look.

When I heard a rustling in the trees my breathing hitched and my eyes fluttered open. Ok, maybe I did have enough strength in me to open my eyes. But that's only because I didn't know what the hell could've made that noise. I had no such luck when I tried to figure out what was moving in the trees both because everything was blurry and because it was dark. That didn't mean that I couldn't hear whatever it was as it got closer and closer to me. I picked my head up off of the ground and put my weight on my right arm. Finally, I exhaled, not realizing that I had been holding my breath until I saw the shrubs about ten feet away from me moving.

The first thing that I noticed was its big huge brown eyes and then its black muzzle came into view. My eyebrows knitted together at how slowly the animal was moving and how it wasn't growling at me at all. Clearly it knew I was a living thing because I was breathing so heavily. It took the animal a good five minutes before it stepped out of the shrubs and into the small opening of the woods that I was sitting in. My eyes widened from how tall the thing -…wolf - was. But it still wouldn't growl or show any signs that it was going to attack me. So I figured I'd encourage it a little.

"You want to eat me? Go ahead," I said, my voice cracking. The wolf's eyes narrowed at me as if I was nuts for saying something like that. As soon as it looked at me that way I averted my gaze down to the ground. Even the wolf thinks I'm crazy. Looks like I'll have to egg it on some more. I raised my hand up to where it could see the blood clearly, "Kill me already," I told it.

The wolf let out what seemed like a grunt and its stare soon moved to my injured hand. Cautiously it took a step closer, allowing me to see that it was dark brown with a white mask around its eyes and a brown muzzle. The wolf looked at my hand as if it was examining it or something. The whole gesture had me confused. It acted a lot smarter than I gave it credit for, almost human in a way. My head moved from one side to the other. You're delusional, Melody.

I slowly moved my hand away from the creature, "Just my luck," I muttered to myself, "Even a gigantic wolf won't kill me."

Its eyes peered up at me and I could hear the dark brown wolf start to whimper. This was way too weird. The thing was reacting to my statements as if it understood me. It was like it didn't want me talking that way. What the hell is going on?

"You understand me?" I asked just to make sure I was hearing the animal correctly when it made that noise. Sure enough the wolf raised its head a little and looked into my eyes as if it were saying yes. When I looked back into the creature's eyes I felt something familiar run through my system. It made me feel calm…safe. Even though it was crazy to feel safe around an animal that could easily tear my limbs apart that's what I got out of the look it gave me. It was like the wolf was telling me it wasn't going to hurt me, like it wanted to protect me. It's stupid, but the best thing I could come up with. And somehow those eyes looked familiar.

Before I could go any further with that last thought the wolf nudged me with its wet nose and whimpered as it looked at my hand.

"What?" I asked it, not understanding what it meant. As it lowered itself down onto the ground and lay its head on its front paws I watched in amazement at how smart it was. Sitting here in the forest with a random wolf and talking to it made me feel a lot better than I felt three minutes ago. I completely forgot about everything else in the world.

The wolf nudged me again and took one lick at the blood that was on my hand, "You want to know why I did this? Is that it?"Those deep pools of brown grew serious as it seemed to nod again. I let out a deep breath and said, "Let's just say life sucks," my fingers scratched the wolf behind the ear, but not once did its eyes leave my face. I wasn't going to say anymore because one, venting to a wolf wasn't particularly healthy and two, I didn't feel like explaining myself. I reached my hand out and began to massage the back of its neck. I didn't pay attention to the fact that what I was doing caused my sleeve to roll up, revealing a couple of scars that were etched into my skin.

Sure enough, the wolf saw and for some reason it began whimpering again as if it cared that I hurt myself. I pulled my arm away and covered up the scars again, "It's nothing," I told it.

The only thing the creature did was blink a couple of times, looking as if it was in deep thought at the moment. I figured that I should be freaked out that this thing acted smarter than any wolf I've ever seen. Well, I've never actually seen a wolf before, but I'm pretty sure that if I did its I.Q. couldn't compare to this wolf's.

My eyelids started to become heavy the longer that I sat there petting the dark brown wolf. When it seemed to notice this it barked at me, "I'm fine," I said. The wolf's lips seemed to turn up into a grin. Oh God I'm more tired than I thought now I think it's actually grinning at me? Right…never in a million years could a…a…wolf…be…that…smart…

My thoughts started to drift into nothing and the last thing I remember was my eyes closing and my head landing on something soft and furry.

***

_I looked to my left and then to my right. When I looked down I saw the familiar waters that I had jumped into a week earlier. I was standing on the cliffs and everything seemed normal. That was until I saw _him_. He was standing twenty feet away and looking straight at me with a grin on his face. _

"_Noah," I breathed, turning on my heels slowly. I started walking and then my walking turned into running, "Noah!" I shouted, hoping that he would respond in some way. When I reached him I slammed into his body, hugging him as tightly as I could. He was really here. He smelled the same, he looked the same. Everything about him was intact, "You're alive?" I asked. _

_Nothing came out of his mouth. He didn't hug me back, he didn't speak at all. I couldn't even hear him breathing. I forced myself to pull away from him so I could see what was wrong. _

_Letting him go was the biggest mistake I could ever make. _

"_Noah?" I started worrying as soon as his eyes were focused on the ground and his lips were formed into a grimace, "Say something," I demanded, reaching out to him so I could grab his arm and make him focus, but when I tried to touch him I felt nothing. My lips imitated the grimace Noah was wearing and I attempted to touch him again. _

_Nothing._

_I shook my head, "No, you can't," my eyes began to water, "You can't leave again," I looked up at his face, but he didn't look at me nor did it seem like he was even listening to me, "Please," I begged, bringing my hand up to his face, but I got the same result as I did before. I looked down at his hand which was clutched into a fist. He was holding onto something, but I couldn't tell what it was. And I couldn't even try to question him about it because as soon as I opened my mouth he turned on his heels and started walking away. _

"_Wait!" I screamed, watching him as he walked into the bright sunlight, "Noah, wait!" I shouted while the tears rolled down my cheeks and I began to run again to try to catch up with him. I ran towards the sun like he did, but the farther I got the more hope I lost because I couldn't find him. And then when I tripped and fell onto the ground I realized he was never coming back. He never was back in the first place. _

I gasped for air and my eyes opened. My chest was heaving wildly with every breath I took and my body shot upright. I buried my face in my hands and told myself repeatedly that it was just a dream. When I calmed myself down enough to bring myself back into reality I looked at my hand. The realization of where I had been and what had happened suddenly came back to me. But somehow I managed to walk home without my parents hearing? And I cleaned up my hand? I don't remember doing any of that…

I groaned and looked at my clock to see what time it was. Only three in the morning. I didn't feel like having that nightmare again and it looks like I never bothered to clean the mud out of my hair in time that I zoned out and magically did so many other things. I threw the covers off of me and quickly went into the bathroom. While the hot water beat against my skin I went over everything in my head. The whole wolf encounter seems too weird to be real. Maybe I didn't even leave my house; maybe I just fell asleep in my room. But the mud in my hair and the new bandages on my hand make me think differently.

Well whatever all that was, I sure as hell know I'm never going to punch a tree again. Who knows what that really did to me.

**i hope you thought this was good! it took a while to write!!! **

**don't forget to add my twitter account, FanFictionKK, so you can check for updates on what's going on with this story and all my other stories for that matter**

**and i repeat in your review tell me your account name so i know it's not a creeper (or if you don't feel like revealing your account name on twitter then email me)**

**and hopefully you're starting to get an understanding of what happened to her brother. Things with Melody will get better as the story moves along, i just want everyone to know how much emotional pain (well i guess it's also physical) Noah's death is causing her. I know this chapter was depressing, but it will get happier later on. Just think about rainbows and unicorns while you're reading this for the time being **

**:) **

**REVIEW! teehee**


	6. 5 Between a Rock And a Hard Place

**alright i know i haven't updated in a while, but i did now so yeah!!! it's all good! :D**

**hope you like it!**

Song for this Chapter- Far Away by Nickelback

Chapter 5

Between a Rock And a Hard Place

My eyes were glued to the picture of me and my brother that I kept in my locker. I brought myself back to that day, that one day I felt extremely happy. The smile that was plastered on my face gave me away. It was about a month ago, when me and Noah took one of our road trips. I remember the day perfectly…

_I sighed heavily when Noah's 1977 ford mustang came into my view. My pace slowed down as I got closer. I didn't know if I should tell him or not. Maybe I should just tell him I failed a test and nothing more. But it would be better if I told him everything. I opened the door and sat in the passenger's seat, not bothering to look at him right now. He took one last puff of his cigarette before he threw it out the window and started the car. I sighed again. _

_He chuckled, "That bad, huh?" _

_Finally I looked at him. That famous grin that he always wore when he thought I was being over emotional tugged at his lips. He backed out of the parking space and instead of turning right he turned left. I furrowed my brows._

"_Where are we going?" my throat felt dry. I can't do this…_

_Noah shrugged one shoulder, "Somewhere where no one can find us. I packed your shit already."_

_I glanced over at the back seat, "What happened?"_

_I knew something was wrong because Noah would only pack my things when he wanted to get away for the whole weekend. The only person that could cause him to want to get away is none other than the bastard we call our father. If you could even call him a father…_

_He pursed his lips, "What do you think happened, Mel?" _

_I didn't respond. I guess I should've known, "Don't listen to him…" I muttered. _

_He took his eyes off the road for a second and looked at me, "What's wrong? You're more depressed than usual today."_

_Of course he would say that. I knew it was coming. Whatever, I'm telling him, "I failed my physics test."_

_He didn't hit me, or scold me or anything like that all he did was say, "Ok." _

_I went on, "I don't think it's going to work, Noah," I twiddled my thumbs and stared at them, "This year is really starting to get to me. I'm not going to get a scholarship. This plan is never going to work."_

"_Stop."_

_I daringly looked over at him to try and see if he was angry, but his face gave nothing away. Damn him and his unreadable ways._

"_I told you all you have to do is try. If you don't get the scholarship then that's fine. Everything's going to be covered either way."_

_I shook my head, "How can you be so sure?" _

_He grinned again, "Just shut up and tell me where I'm heading."_

_I laughed softly, "You're such a jerk. It's a simple question."_

_Noah turned the radio on and the volume all the way up, "We're done with this conversation. I need to concentrate on the road and you need to lighten up so we can get this weekend started."_

My eyes were concentrating hard on the picture I was looking at. I tried as hard as I could to go back to that day when I felt happy and alive. I wanted to be able to look at this picture so I could start planning for another weekend like that. But I knew that that wasn't going to happen ever again.

I slammed my locker shut and looked to my right. My stomach dropped a little when I saw Connor. He didn't bother to look back at me. He hasn't bothered to talk to me either. It's been about a week since I last had a full conversation with him. And the worst part of it is that I don't even know what I did wrong. Life couldn't get any worse.

I contemplated whether or not I should go over there and attempt to find out what was wrong. Well since he doesn't bother to return any of my calls or sit with me at lunch then I guess this is the only time I have to try and make amends. I didn't even know what I was making amends for, but I was going to do it anyways. So long as it gets him to talk to me again.

The grimace that was tugging on my lips tugged on them even more. As I walked I waited to hear him speak to me in my head, tell me that I should turn around and go to class, but I heard nothing. I was alone.

When Connor noticed me walking towards his locker he closed his locker and began walking away. I knew that if this was going to work then I would have to catch up with him. So I sped up a little and grab his arm, not really sure of what would happen next.

"What did I do wrong, Connor?" it wasn't exactly the best way to begin the conversation, but I couldn't stop myself now, "Tell me because I really don't understand why you won't talk to me."

He sighed and turned around slowly. The hole inside of me slowly growing bigger when I saw that horrible look in his eyes, "You're getting yourself into trouble, Melody," Connor's gaze drifted from my face, focusing on something else, "By hanging out with _him_."

I followed his eyes, "Brady?"

"Him and his little cult."

My brows knitted together in anger and confusion, "What the hell are you talking about?" he wasn't making any sense at all.

Connor scoffed and shook his head, "They've already got you brainwashed…"

Ok, screw making amends, "Brainwashed? Are you kidding me?!"

"I've seen them around, Mel. They're bad news. I heard they're on steroids. Probably smoke crack too."

My initial reaction would've been to slap him in the face, but as soon as I realized who I was defending I calmed myself down enough to not do it, "This is why you've been acting like such an ass lately?! Because you think I'm getting involved with this supposed "cult"?"

His eyes narrowed, "I could tell by the way he looked at you last week that you two were more than just friends."

I couldn't even begin to contemplate how stupid and twisted this all was. He had it all wrong, "Last week, he sat at our table because we're working on a project together. And we're not even close to being friends. I told him I couldn't get involved in anything like that. But you didn't bother to pick up your damn phone to ask me about that, did you?" I saw his expression begin to soften, "No, you didn't. So, you can take your phony assumptions and shove them all up your ass," I shoved past him and began walking towards my first class. Maybe now he would start talking to me.

Going over what he said to me made me confused as to why he was so angry in the first place. Was he jealous? I mean come on, a cult? Really? Brady would never join a cult…but I don't even know him that well…

***

The day seemed to pass by impossibly slow. I think that whoever is the little puppeteer running my life wants me to suffer because today had to be one of the worst yet. It was right up there with…

I turned my head toward to window I was sitting close to in order to distract myself. I couldn't think about it anymore, but not thinking about it made the memories of that day come back to me.

_I walked through the front door hesitantly. Something was off. I could feel it. From the first moment I heard that Noah went home early I knew something was wrong. My breathing hitched as I looked around the room I was standing in. _

"_Noah," I called out, hoping to get a response. _

_Silence._

"_Is anyone home?" it would suck if my dad was home because right now I was defenseless. There was nothing stopping him from hurting me. But he wasn't sitting in his usual spot and the television wasn't on. He must be out buying more booze. _

_The realization had me throwing my bag on the couch instead of bringing it up to my room, "Noah where the hell are you?!" I shouted with my hands cupped around my mouth just in case. _

_It was strange for Noah to leave school early. Not to mention him leaving school without telling me. He probably just forgot to tell me… but why would he forget? I felt my heart begin to speed up. It wasn't like him to do something like this. Especially now, when we both needed to work extremely hard in school in order for our plan to work out the way we want it to._

_My eyes scanned over every part of the living room just to be sure that nothing was out of place. There was the couch, the coffee table, the magazine rack full of all the crappy stuff my mom likes to read, and even the amazing assortment of different remotes was in the place my dad left it. Either Noah hasn't been home or…something bad happened. _

_When I looked over towards the opposite side of the living room towards the hallway an eerie feeling began to form in the pit of my stomach. I inhaled slowly and held the breath as I took a couple careful steps in that direction. My eyebrows furrowed once I saw the bathroom door cracked open. _

"_Noah?" it barely came out as a whisper. I gripped the door knob and twisted it open. The light from the window in the bathroom came shining through and all I saw was-_

The final bell was what caused me to let out the breath I was holding in. And as I gasped for air I saw a bunch of people turn their heads and stare at me. I couldn't bear to watch them analyze me anymore than they already were because I knew I was going to burst any minute now. So, I quickly grabbed all of my books off of my desk and ran out of the room before anyone could look at me for more than two seconds. Once I reached the girls' bathroom I checked each stall to make sure that no one was in here before I fell to the floor and let everything go. My books were now sprawled out on floor and my head was in my hands. I felt my stomach churn inside of me while I tried to get the images the memories brought back out of my mind.

I felt like punching through a wall or something. The pain was ripping me apart from the inside out and I didn't know if I could stand it any longer. But I couldn't hurt myself anymore. After cancelling my plans with Brady on Saturday so I could go see my therapist because I was so overwhelmed, I realized hurting myself would get me nowhere. I was between a rock and a hard place right now and it completely sucked. All I could do was cry until I ran out of tears because nothing else could come close to making me feel better. God, why did I have to think about it? I didn't want to face that reality. It was too soon and I was nowhere near being considered "over it." I couldn't shrug it off or openly talk about it. It was too much.

Every teardrop that rolled down my cheeks was a new realization. I realized that I will never be able to talk to him again. I realized I had nothing to look forward to. I realized that I was losing my only friend. I realized I had no one here in this world that could pull me out of the hole I was dug into. And I realized that the one person that actually made me feel like a human being and made me feel like things were going to get better was dead. His soul was floating somewhere and his body was rotting in the ground. I don't know if I can believe in heaven or God. I mean if there was such a thing as God then why are there so many bad things in the world? Why did he feel the need to create people like my parents? The only thing that could possibly come close to being something like that is the one I saw in the water when I jumped, the angel.

I leaned my head up against the wall and kept my eyes closed while I thought about the angel and the good feeling I got when I looked into his eyes. It was warm when I was in his arms. It made me feel like he was watching out for me. Maybe when he saved me, it was supposed to be a sign. A sign that was telling me that I couldn't give up on life. But right now I wanted to. I wanted to so badly.

Suddenly, I heard the bathroom door swing open and I immediately stood up and collected my books. The two girls that walked in stopped talking once they saw me, both of their mouths clamping shut. I kept my gaze on the floor while I walked out. They probably noticed that I was crying, but as long as I didn't talk to them or try to make any sort of eye contact with them then maybe they would forget about it. I stood there staring at my feet, noticing that the hallways were almost empty. It was Friday, people were in a hurry to get out of this place and get their weekends started. But I, I just stood there. Not feeling eager or ready to go home. Weekends were the worst part of the week for me.

I noticed someone starting to walk my way and figuring that they would pass me without talking to me, I didn't acknowledge them. But they did something I didn't expect. They talked to me.

"You forgot this in class," the voice made my stomach go back to its normal state. I knew who it was, but I looked up just to be sure I was correct. And sure enough I was. Brady held my red journal in his hand and my eyes widened, "I didn't read it, don't worry," he held out his hand and gave me the book.

I took it from him and barely managed to say, "Thanks."

He nodded once and those brown eyes that seemed so familiar to me began to look worried. I wiped my cheeks with the back of my hand and waited for him to walk away…he didn't.

"Are you ok?" he asked in a way that made me want to tell him everything that was hurting me, but I didn't know him. And even though I felt like I did…I told him we couldn't be friends.

"I'm fine," I started to wonder why I couldn't just walk away.

He seemed to study my face because he knew I was lying. Yeah, I tend to be a bad liar from time to time. You'd think I'd master the art of lying to people, but no I truly suck at it, "Usually when people say they're fine…it really means they're not."

I shook my head, "Why do you care? I told you I couldn't be friends with you, Brady."

He sighed, "I know."

"Then what part of that didn't you understand?" He's the last person I should be angry with. It just seems to be the dominant emotion today.

"The part where you think you're better off alone."

I built up enough courage to look at him, "I told you I'm fine."

"I don't believe that," he didn't yell or scowl at me. He just looked like he was worried about me. It made me feel like he knew everything already.

"You should," there was nothing else that I could come up with to say. The way he was looking at me made me feel like hiding. I just felt so exposed around him. I finally turned on my heels and began to walk away, but he still followed me. When I reached my locker he stood there next to me. I could feel his breath on my neck because he was so close.

As I grabbed my backpack out of my locker and all of the other books I needed for the weekend I spoke, "Why are you so persistent, Brady? I'm not worth trying to figure out."

He breathed in slowly, "I can't stay away from you, Melody."

"Try," I shut my locker and turned towards him, "Trust me when I say, I'm not like everyone else. Ever since…" after the incident in the bathroom I didn't trust myself enough to say it all out loud. I looked up at him to see if he was listening, and was surprised with how intently he seemed to actually be listening to me, "Ever since_ that_ happened, things have only gotten worse than they already are."

He took one step closer to me and seemed as if he was resisting the urge to hold me. But all I really wanted at the moment was to feel someone's arms wrap around me and tell me things would get better even if they were lying. I needed him to do it, but he didn't. I had to remind myself that we weren't that close.

"What if I told you I wasn't like everyone else either?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat, "I'd say prove it."

He pursed his lips, "That's a lot easier said than done…"

My eyebrows knitted together and I wondered what he meant by that. He out of all people seemed normal, "I wish I could tell you I believe you, but I can't. And I wish that I could say we can be friends, but with the way things are I just…I don't trust myself," the next thing I knew tears started to fall from my face because I was thinking about it again. The images were etched into my brain.

I felt Brady lift my chin up with his finger, but I kept my eyes closed, "It's ok, Melody," he said, "I promise you it will be ok."

"You can't promise me that," I tried to pull away from him, but it was no use, "People have promised me things so many times before and they all turned out to be empty promises. He promised me he would be there for me and look out for me and now he's…he's gone," I couldn't stop myself from telling him this. I felt like he was the only one I could tell even though I didn't know him.

"I told you I wasn't like everyone else."

I bit my bottom lip to prevent myself from sobbing. It would be embarrassing if I started to sob like an idiot in front of him, "I have to go," I didn't want to leave when there was so much more I wanted to figure out. I knew he wasn't the person I should figure this out with, though.

He let go of my chin and stared at me, "I'm here you know," He said, "If you want to talk, I'm here…for you."

I looked at his face for a minute, "Why?" I asked. It was a pretty blunt question, but that didn't stop me from asking it.

"Because I want to be, Melody. Because you need someone to be there for you."

His last words had me feeling certain that he knew about my parents and how my brother died exactly and how much my brother meant to me. It was like he truly understood even though I didn't tell him anything about my life. And yet here he stood, as calm as a person could possibly be.

"We still have to work on that project you know," he chose now out of all times to change the subject, "Since you cancelled on me last weekend how about we work on it tomorrow?" I wish I could tell him the real reason for my cancellation, but there was no way I could flat out say 'Sorry I had to go see my therapist because I saw a wolf and talked to it and you'll never guess…I punched a tree.' Oh, yeah that would go over very well, "If you want we could strictly talk about the project and nothing else."

"Ok," I nodded, "What time should I come?"

"Whenever," he shrugged one shoulder and grinned at me.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow then," I said.

Once again he started to stare at me with that intense look in his eyes, "You won't cancel this time?"

I shook my head, "No, last weekend was an emergency. This weekend I swear I won't cancel."

He didn't seem to question my answer, "Good."

I said one quick goodbye before I finally managed to turn around and walk out of the building. As soon as I stepped out of the doors the smell of moss and pine lingered in my nose and the smell reminded me of Noah. It reminded me of the one day where I felt like things were going to get better.

_I pulled my notebook off of the top shelf of my locker. Before I knew it Noah snatched my arm and examined the new scars on my wrist. He closed his eyes, shook his head, and sighed._

"_Why do you do this to yourself, Melody?"_

_I tugged my arm out of his grip and covered my wrist with my sleeve, glancing around to make sure no one saw that._

"_It makes me feel like I'm in control of myself," I turned around and started walking with him trailing closely behind me. _

"_That's a ridiculous reason to hurt yourself," Noah pulled his pack of cigarettes out of his pocket along with his lighter as we walked through the parking lot. I watched him as he lit up one end of the stick._

"_Why do you smoke, Noah?" I questioned with a smug expression on my face._

_He narrowed his eyes at me, "This is a lot more different than that."_

"_No, I think they're both pretty much the same. I mean we both do these things for the same reasons."_

"_Yeah, well that's not good for you."_

_I laughed, "Neither is that!" he was really bad at trying to defend himself._

_He exhaled slowly and I watched as the smoke filled the air around us, "When are you going to quit that anyways?"_

_And without missing a beat I said, "When you quit smoking."_

_He looked at me out of the corner of his eye. And when he took the cigarette out of his mouth and threw it on the ground to put it out I was surprised. _

"_There, I quit," he smiled, "Now you have to stop too."_

"_You're crazy."_

"_So are you."_

That was the day when I stopped cutting. I know it was only a week before Noah died, but it still changed my life. And I am forever grateful that my brother did that for me because ever since then I resist the urge to hurt myself. And it's all because of him.

**I hope everyone liked the flashbacks :D **

**and the whole chapter for that matter! i know Connor's being a douche, but he's only a little jealous...maybe...**

**and THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! sort of :)**

**ok so while i was listening to my iPod i found the best song for Brady (like Brady's POV through this story) and basically this song is for the whole story not just this chapter it's Yours to Hold by Skillet **

**listen to it! because it's a really great song! **

**REVIEW!**


	7. 6 Trudging Through This Terrible Time

Chapter 6

Trudging Through This Terrible Time

_Noah, _

_I give up. Trying to go on, trying to deal with it is just too difficult. I keep thinking about who I used to be and how much better everything seemed when you were alive. But now all I see in me is someone who would rather be dead. The only reason I'm staying alive is…well… I don't even know anymore. I'm trying to find something that's worth staying here, believe me I am. It's just becoming a lot harder than I thought it would be. The only one I can think of is Connor, but even he is growing farther apart from me now. I'll try to think of something though…_

I closed my journal and stared at the red leather for a moment. My fingers traced small swirls over the cover. It seemed as if my brain wasn't functioning correctly because all that was going through it were thoughts of Brady and what I said to him and what he said to me. I thought that avoiding him would be an easy task because of how little I knew him, but after today I realized that I was wrong. I couldn't stop thinking about how much he seemed to know about me already. The thought of it made a chill run down my spine. I didn't want to get caught up in something that would turn out to be like everything else in my life. I didn't want to get hurt in the long run. I can't take any more pain. I already had enough crap on my plate. So I thought that not becoming friends with him would prevent that from happening. But he's everywhere…and I can't shake the weird feeling I get whenever I see him.

A thud caught my attention and my eyes immediately guided me to where the sound came from. I picked the journal up off of the floor and threw it into my bag. The extent of how out of it I am was clear to me now. God, I can't even hold a book in my hand. I sighed and looked down at the floor one more time and that's when I noticed it, a folded half sheet of notebook paper. I picked it up and unfolded it, reading it to myself

_Thought you might need this, _

_312 Ocean Front Drive_

_Don't worry that's really my address. See you tomorrow._

_-Brady_

He told me he didn't read my journal! Ugh, I can't believe this. But maybe –and this is a_ big_ maybe- maybe he just slipped it into the last few pages? God I hope so. I didn't know how I'd face him tomorrow if it wasn't true…

I opened my car door and looked at the therapy clinic in front of me. It took me a minute to come to terms with what I was doing. Nothing was clicking. But I closed my door and walked into the clinic like nothing was out of the ordinary. And since I was so out of it I didn't even stop at the front desk to let Ms. Nelson know I was here so she could tell Olivia. I just walked straight into Olivia's office and sat down like I owned the place. My eyes wandered around the room, scanning each of the paintings on the walls while I waited for her. I was lost in every one of them, picturing myself there where everything seemed calm and peaceful. I pictured myself in a world where there was nothing but happiness, where you didn't have to worry about who you could trust and who you couldn't. Somewhere where I didn't have to doubt the fact that I wanted to know Brady.

I heard the familiar sound of a door clicking shut and I raised my head so it would seem like I wasn't out in la la land.

"So," Olivia had a wide grin on her face, "Did you confront Connor?"

I was afraid she would ask me that, "Yes."

"And?" her voice sounded hopeful.

"And he told me he thought I was joining some cult," anger was seeping into my tone, but I bit my lip so I wouldn't sound half as angry as I felt.

"Well, are you?"

I guess you could say it's really bad when your own therapist has to question whether or not you joined a cult, "No, but the thing is that he doesn't even know Brady well enough to say something like that," I threw my arms up in the air.

"Brady, as in the guy you've been trying to avoid?" see Olivia was about as close as I could get to having a best friend. A best friend who's a girl…

"Yep, the one and only," I rolled my eyes dramatically, "Connor thought I was his girlfriend and that I was getting involved with drugs or something."

Her eyebrows raised and her grin suddenly turned into a huge smile.

I couldn't help but question what was going through her head, "What?"

"I'm sensing that the only reason why Connor is angry with you is because he's jealous of Brady."

I was afraid of that, "Why would he be jealous of Brady?"

"Well, given from what you told me I can only think that he likes you more than a friend."

My eyes closed slowly and I sighed. She was right. I didn't know how or why I knew this, but she was right. Connor liked me more than a friend, "So, he doesn't want me to get close to Brady?"

She nodded.

"He's going to ruin everything," I mumbled mostly to myself.

"You should tell him how you really feel. Tell him you're not planning on getting involved with Brady like that."

I shuddered at that, "Which brings me to my next dilemma," at least I had someone I could talk to about this without feeling like a complete idiot, "I talked to him today…Brady I mean," it took me a moment to figure out what I wanted to say next, "And I really don't know what to do. I keep telling myself I shouldn't get involved in anything because I might get hurt, but then it's like…" I pursed my lips, "Whenever I'm around him I feel like things could get better. As crazy as it sounds…"

"So, you want to know if it would be right to become friends with him?"

I nodded, "Basically."

Olivia sat back in her seat and stared at me intently, "I don't know really," I felt like I was back to square one until she said, "You can't know if he's going to hurt you. But what you can know is whether or not he makes you feel happy. If he makes you feel happy then I say take the risk."

I looked past her and at the painting of the forest that hung on the pale blue wall. It held my attention long enough to juggle my choices in my head and actually come to a decision as to which one was the best.

* * *

The constant sound of glass bottles clinking together rang in my ears. It was like background music that kept repeating over and over again. As soon as the timer started going off I grabbed the chicken parmesan out of the oven and placed it on the counter top. A sweet aroma filled the air around me when I set it down.

_Clink Clink._

Ugh, I was getting annoyed. I couldn't stand hearing that noise anymore. So, I closed my eyes and took three deep breaths. I drowned out the sound and concentrated on my heartbeat. While I listened I lolled my head to the side and thought about nothing else but breathing evenly. Meditation was my last resort.

"Hurry the hell up!"

Getting hit was the last thing I wanted.

I quickly dumped one whole chicken breast onto a plate and drizzled the sauce I made on top of it. With another clink of his bottles I figured I had to get this over with. I kept my eyes on the steam that was coming off of the chicken while I walked into the living room and set down the plate in front of him. His eyes slowly made their way down to the food and then they landed on me. I didn't make eye contact with him and I didn't even consider saying something to him. All I did, all I could stand to do was stand there.

"Bring me another beer," he was slurring his words together. I guess I should be used to the way he spoke, but for some reason the way he was talking to me right now had me wanting to get away as quickly as possible. I turned around and walked straight into the kitchen without saying a word. When I touched the cold drink I shivered out of fear of what might happen today. I stared at the liquor in my hand as I found my way back to where he was sitting. Before I could even try to hand it to him he snatched it out of my hand and used the bottom of his stained t-shirt to open one of the things I hated most in this world.

"No respect," he muttered. I picked up the empty bottles that were sitting on the floor and started to walk away when he grabbed my wrist. The worst part of it was that I could see my last chance of having a good day slip out of my reach, "Did I tell you to throw those away?" more slurring.

"No," I kept my eyes on his hand that was cutting off my circulation.

"No, I didn't," he shook his head at me, "Leave 'em there," he pushed my wrist away from him now and I flexed my hand to get the blood flowing, "Jesus Christ I swear kids these days don't appreciate anything."

I didn't want to hear this. I know whatever he's going to start ranting about now is going to be a blow to the chest.

"You're going to end up just like your brother did."

I began to walk away from him. It wasn't going to stop him from talking, but at least I didn't have to see him while he talked about how terrible I am.

"He had nothing going for him and neither will you!" he screamed from the other room.

_Don't listen to him. You know it's just the alcohol talking._

I knew that much. Even he didn't have to remind me of that. I started cleaning up the mess I made, pretending that what he was saying right now had nothing to do with me.

"Get a job! Then maybe you'll start making the right decisions."

_Clink Clink._

"You playing your shitty little instrument and him building friggin tables is going to bite you both in the ass in the long run!" he chuckled; "Well only one of you now, I guess."

_Let it go in one ear and out the other._

God Noah, I'm trying.

"You need to get your priorities straight! Or else you're going to end up dead, just like he did!"

I bit down on my tongue so hard that I bit through the skin and began to taste blood.

I heard him spit, "And learn how to cook _good_ food! Will you? God that tasted like shit!"

After five more minutes of him telling me how terrible of a person I was I figured I couldn't take much more of it or else I was going to explode. So, I went up to my room. In my head I kept telling myself that what he was saying didn't matter. It's not true, none of it is true.

It took everything in me to finally convince myself that he was drunk and he didn't know what he was talking about. When I finally calmed myself down I grabbed my homework and a flashlight just in case it got dark out while I was still working. I headed down the stairs when I knew the coast was clear and grabbed a blanket out of the hallway closet, ignoring the bathroom door as best as I could. I stepped out of the house and felt an immense amount of pressure lifted off of me. There was mist in the air and just above the trees you could see the sun beginning to set. It caused the sky to be a mixture of pink, yellow, and orange.

After I got myself settled on the ground I lay down on my stomach and began to work on my algebra homework which included equations that took me forever to solve. Then I tried to figure out how me and Brady were going to do this craptastic project. It seemed impossible to me. I really hope he knows more than I do. If he doesn't then I'm totally screwed. No, we're both totally screwed. I'd rather not think about it…

I laid my forehead down on my arm and closed my eyes for a minute. The wind blew against the back of my neck which sent a wave of chills down my back. I listened to the different sounds that it made. The way it whistled while it blew through the trees and brushed up against each leaf that was hanging from the branches. It caused my muscles to relax.

I sat like that for a while until I felt like it was dark enough for the stars to be out. When I looked up sure enough there they were, billions and billions of stars. Each one of them was so far away. I lay down on my back now and gawked at their beauty. It's moments like these where I really truly love La Push. Where I actually feel like time stopped and it was just me sitting there, staring up at them.

A noise coming from the woods caused me to shoot upright in alarm. My attention was no longer on the stars; it was on that one small noise. It began to get louder as whatever was disturbing my peace got closer. And when I got a small glimpse of what it really was I didn't feel as tense. I felt relief.

The dark brown wolf was barely noticeable through the layer of shrubs that covered the forest floor, but it being one of the hugest animals I've ever seen I knew it was him. I laid my head back down onto the blanket and watched as it began creeping closer to the edge of the forest. I didn't blink just in case it felt like disappearing on me. I haven't seen him in a week, so you could only imagine how surprised I was to see it here so close to my backyard.

I waited for the wolf to move closer, but he didn't. He just stood there and watched me watching him.

"I know you're there," I said in an attempt for it to come out of hiding, "And I'm not scared," since the wolf seemed to understand what I was saying last time I figured I'd talk to it in the same way.

After two more minutes of the magnificent creature just standing there it finally gave in and came out of the forest. My eyes never left the wolf's because they seemed so familiar, but when his gaze began to wander I let go of that. He started to stare at my house with cautious eyes.

"It's ok," I whispered to the animal, "Even if they saw you they wouldn't care," he looked back at me and then at my wrist. I followed his stare and began to run my finger all over the purple bruise, sighing, "I'm sick of not feeling good enough," the words came out too fast for me to stop them. But I didn't really care that I was spilling the truth because I knew I didn't have to be afraid of the wolf telling someone else, "He always tells me how I don't respect him. But how can you respect someone who doesn't respect you?"

I looked up at the creature and he slowly walked closer to me and lowered himself onto the ground, with his head on his paws, until he was so close that our noses were practically touching. I ran my fingers through the wolf's fur once, noticing how its eyes never left my face, "I'm trying so hard not to give up," at this point I didn't mind talking to a wolf that seemed to understand everything I was saying. It didn't bother me anymore, "I keep telling myself that things will get better, but I'm losing hope."

He whimpered softly and pressed his wet nose to my forehead. I closed my eyes and started wondering what my brother would think of all of this. Knowing Noah, he would probably react the same way I did. He wouldn't be afraid or hate the wolf. He'd be fascinated by it. And as I massaged the wolf's fur I imagined Noah here with me, holding onto this moment –as rare and precious as it was- like it was going to disappear at any given time.

I could feel the wolf's eyes on me as I got lost in my own thoughts and my eyes fluttered open only to be confirmed that it was true, he was staring at me. I didn't know what it was about this animal that had me feeling like I needed it, but I did. I felt like if he were to suddenly disappear then I wouldn't be able to put up with life anymore, because nothing else seemed quite worth it except for this animal right here.

Keeping my hand on the wolf's neck I lay on my back once again and stared up at the blanket of stars that cluttered the black sky. Everything felt like it was in place for once. I let the minutes pass me by, thinking about nothing but the stars, the wolf, and the small rectangular area of peace I was lying on.

It was perfect, until a howl interrupted the quiet. The wolf jerked its head up and looked over its shoulder. I watched him curiously and pulled my hand away when I realized exactly what that one howl meant. It felt as if I was being sucked back into the black hole that I call life when the creature beside me suddenly stood up. In response to his action I sat up and supported my weight with my hands. He must've heard my movement because the next thing I knew he turned back towards me and stared with a look of regret and…longing.

Knowing that I couldn't keep him all to myself I encouraged him to go, "You can't stay here forever," I said, but feeling the way I did two minutes ago made me want to say the exact opposite. The wolf whimpered again and lowered his head to my level, "Just go," I stood up now, trying to show him that I was fine with it.

The animal took two steps forward and then stopped himself. Maybe he heard something that I didn't, because it seemed as if he was going to come closer and he stopped in an alarmed sort of way. He looked back toward the forest one more time and I looked along with him to see if I could see anything, no such luck. It was a bittersweet moment, watching the wolf walk into the forest. I felt empty inside because I knew what was waiting for me in the house behind me and yet just seeing the wolf left me with enough motivation to keep trudging through this terrible time.

With my hands hanging by my side I stared down at the blanket I was standing on and then my gaze moved on to the flashlight. The idea that suddenly popped into my head was both ridiculous and pointless, but oddly comforting at the same time. I picked up the small device and held it in my hands, clicking the light on and off several times before I decided that I didn't care how pointless this might be. I wanted to escape.

My feet began moving swiftly before I could confirm that this was what I really wanted to do. I let the flashlight be my guide through the trees as I tried to find some sign of the wolf. It didn't have to be the actual thing. I guess that all I really wanted to know is that it was close by and not completely gone. I began moving faster until I found the first sign. A paw print was imprinted into the mud. I flashed the light in the area close by it to make sure that there were more and sure enough there were.

_Don't you dare._

I ignored my conscience, Noah, for the time being. Besides, I didn't have to listen to him every second of every day.

I knew I was getting closer when I started hearing animal noises ahead of me and as soon as I heard those noises I turned off my flashlight. They went along the lines of heavy breathing, growling, and something else I couldn't exactly put a name to. Against my better judgment, though, I went towards the noises and waited until I finally saw him…them. There were two of them, one smaller than the other -which was the wolf I was looking for- and the other that towered over him looking big, with bulky features and a silver coat. The silver wolf looked vicious compared to the dark brown one.

I tried to keep my distance while I watched the two of them, looking as if they were having a private conversation by the way their eyes and expressions kept changing. It was weird to say the least. Watching these two animals was like watching humans talking to one another. Sure, we can use words, but we also use facial expressions which is what it reminded me of.

In an attempt to adjust my position so I was hidden behind the shrubs even more I took a step to my right. As soon as I did this a twig snapped from underneath my foot and everything seemed to stand still. I stared at the animals as they reacted to the noise, their ears twitching. It wasn't so much the dark brown wolf I was scared of, it was more the silver one. Since I didn't know what it was capable of I was scared shitless. And when its eyes were right on me I was practically peeing in my pants. Its eyes narrowed at me and it started growling. I was going to run, but I knew that it could easily catch up to me. So, it was either stand here and get killed or run and get killed.

To my surprise, the dark brown wolf turned its head and looked straight into my eyes with a look in them that was telling me to get the hell out of here. But all I did was watch as the wolf crouched down in a defensive position and fiercely growled back at its pack member. And the next thing I knew I was running towards my house, the one place I never thought I'd run to. All that I heard was constant snarling behind me and all I thought was that I had to keep running.

* * *

Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid. Why did I even consider going off into the woods? God, I bet I killed him, like everything else. Would a wolf kill its own pack member? I shuddered at the thought, hoping that the answer to that question was no. As I paced back and forth in my backyard, I kept seeing flashes of the one day when my whole world crumbled down. I kept hearing me calling out his name and gun shots in my head. It had been nearly an hour and the woods were dead silent. Couldn't the wolf just come here and show me that he was fine? Maybe I'm overestimating his abilities. Even if he did seem ten times smarter than a regular wolf, maybe he wouldn't think about coming here again. Or maybe he's just dead…

_Bang._

I flinched at the sound. Please don't be dead. I don't think I can live on knowing that I killed this wolf.

_Bang._

I fell to my knees and put my face in my hands. This is bad, really really bad. Why the hell did I feel like I just had to see this animal again? Why did I have to get my hopes up?

Another sound startled me, but it wasn't the sound of a trigger being pulled or a bullet being shot. I looked up and to my right, sighing in relief from what I saw.

The wolf looked at me reassuringly, as if he was telling me that he was fine. I got up from where I was and slowly moved towards him, "Did he hurt you?" I asked.

He cocked his head to the side and I took another step closer, finally able to get a good look at him. The only spot on him where I saw damage was his neck. There were teeth marks, but they weren't deep. I felt an invisible weight lifted off of me then and shook my head from side to side, "It was my fault."

The wolf nudged me with his muzzle as if denying it, telling me I was wrong. I knew that that thing was his pack brother, but even then what if I got him killed? I couldn't think about that any further. The only thing I could think about was that this one creature was the one thing that really mattered anymore.


	8. 7 When I'm The Same Species As She Is

**i did it! i actually did it! lmao **

**yeah so i know not everyone thought this was necessary, but some people wanted me to do it so i figured ok i'll start it and then see what happens. So i started writing and I began to like it....**

**not sure how everyone else will feel about it, but here it is!!! **

Song for this Chapter- Your Guardian Angel by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

Chapter 7

When I'm The Same Species As She Is

**Brady's POV**

I felt alone. I know, I'm nuts right? How the hell can I feel alone when there are constantly people in my head and all around me? Well I'll tell you how. It's a simple ten letter word with three syllables. Something that I consider the first time I got to see the whole world from a new perspective. A perspective I didn't even know about three weeks ago.

Imprinting.

Even thinking about the word had me running faster. I knew she wouldn't be home, but I wasn't on patrol and I had nothing better to do with my time. So, I'll wait for as long as I have to. Just knowing what her parents do to her was a good reason to go there now. I swore to myself –more to Sam because he's a hard ass- that I wouldn't do anything drastic while I checked up on her. I don't know, maybe her dad wouldn't even mind a werewolf strolling through the house and beating the shit out of him though. He didn't even seem to be stable enough to notice. But if I scared Melody…well that was different.

I felt someone phase and immediately focused on where I was going.

_Brady, _Sam was thinking in his alpha tone and I hated him point five percent more for it.

_I know, I'm not stupid. I'll stay far away from her parents, don't worry about it. _

That didn't mean I was staying away from her though. She had already seen me as a wolf-

_You shouldn't even be doing that! _

I hate that I sucked really bad at hiding my thoughts from them. Whatever I really don't care anymore. Sam growled at me. I could see through his mind that he wasn't anywhere close to me, so I didn't stop running towards her house. I would be there before he could do anything to me. He snarled at that one.

_Sam, you can't tell me you didn't do this when you first imprinted on Emily._

Of course he went silent and of course he didn't understand. None of them completely understood. Like I was saying before, I'm alone. No one knew exactly what Melody was going through except for me. And hell I'm sure I didn't even know everything yet. Seeing the scars on her wrists and the cuts on her hand gave me just a glimpse of what went on. They all saw it in my head soon after I discovered all of this, but they didn't get it, they didn't understand why. That was probably the one time I was able to keep my thoughts to myself. But that's only because as soon as all of them started nagging me about it I phased. Ever since then I try not to think about it too much. I try not to think about what they do to her.

_Just be careful, _Sam thought.

I was surprised that no one else had phased yet.

_Emily called while I was picking up some things from the grocery store. They're all at my house which is why I phased. Ever since last week I don't trust any of them with cooking utensils. _

In Sam's head I saw images of practically the whole pack in the kitchen standing around Emily as she attempted to show them how to use an electric mixer. Let's just say there was cake batter on the walls and ceiling when Sam, Jared, and I got back from patrolling the whole afternoon. Who knew they were all so confident that they thought they could actually make a simple chocolate cake.

_I'm phasing back kid. Don't do anything stupid._

I rolled my eyes, _I'll be fine._ I could see the lights from the house coming into my view so I slowed down.

_Paul will meet up with you later._

I stopped listening to him after that, barely noticing when he phased until all I could hear were the sound of a TV on in the house and my own steady breathing. I kept walking until I could see the backyard and the sliding door that led into the kitchen. The only voice that was close enough for me to hear was her father's. It's not like he was saying anything I needed to listen too either. All of it was a bunch of drunken nonsense. I truly hated him. From the moment I realized what was going on in that house I hated him. How anyone could beat their own child was beyond me. I felt a snarl make its way up my throat as soon as I saw Melody in my head with the bruises on her arms and the scars on her wrists. He was disgusting.

The worst part of all it was that I couldn't even stop it. First of all, I don't think anyone would want me in their house like this let alone in the nude if I even did phase back. Second, Melody would avoid me more than she already is. And third, I didn't know what I would do even if I had the ability to go in there. I mean I couldn't just go and beat him up like I wanted to and I couldn't send him to jail because it's not my place to. If Melody wanted me to do any of that though, then I would. It's all up to her, not me. She hasn't done any of that yet though. I don't know what she's waiting for, but she must have a good reason for it.

The sound of an engine brought my attention back to the house. I heard the door open and close, but nothing else. He didn't say anything to her and she didn't say anything to him. I figured that that was how it was for Melody.

From the glass window of the sliding door I saw her walk into the kitchen and stopped myself from running out of the woods and closer to her before I could blow my cover. She just looked so scared and helpless. All I wanted to do was go over there right now and tell her I wouldn't let them hurt her anymore. I wanted to protect her from them, from that place.

She moved around the kitchen and began cooking something. After a couple of minutes I could start to smell the tomato sauce she was making and damn did it smell good. In the window I could just see Melody and despite every single emotion that was written on her face and everything she was going through she was the most beautiful girl I've ever seen in my entire life. I breathed in her sweet scent that smelled like vanilla.

"Hurry the hell up!"

And just like that it was all ruined. I no longer smelled the vanilla, instead I smelled liquor. A growl rolled off of my tongue as soon as I heard that voice. God, I hated having to sit here and do absolutely nothing. How could Sam think it was ok for me to just stand by, watch, and listen as my imprint got hit by her father? I wanted so badly to rip his throat out. I dug my claws into the mud in order to keep myself put because I was no longer thinking, I was just reacting.

What happened to Melody next bothered me the most. All it was was him telling her that she didn't respect him and how she was going to end up like her brother. Shit like that, shit that wasn't even true. I was so close to darting towards that house that my claws were dug so far down into the dirt that you could practically see China from here. It was ridiculous that I had to see my imprint get bashed and not be able to do anything about it. I wish I knew Melody as a human. I wish she would give me permission to give her dad a taste of his own medicine. I also wish she didn't have to live like this. I wanted it to be me instead of her in there. I wanted to take all of her pain away so badly that it hurt.

My meltdown was brought to a standstill when I heard the glass door slide open. I relaxed my extremely tensed muscles and raised my head up only to see the one person who would make everything else seem pointless and stupid. I could feel the invisible pull tugging at me even if she couldn't. I could tell how much I needed her and yet I knew how much she didn't want me right now. Not unless I had fur and a tail.

I watched as she spread out the blanket on the ground and started her homework. All the while I kept thinking about how much I'd give to lie beside her and hold her close to me. But in the back of my mind I knew I'd have to settle for watching on the sidelines. It was too soon for her. I could tell how much losing her brother affected her. I heard all of the rumors about what happened to him but chose to ignore all of them. In time, when Melody's ready, she can tell me herself. It wasn't the type of situation where I could just go up to her and ask what happened. Prying for answers wasn't the way to go.

While I went over all of the possibilities of the future in my head, the small backyard that my eyes were glued to began to get darker over time. I could see Melody begin to get frustrated and rest her head down on her arms as if she were giving up. The wind made her hair slightly lift up into the air, sending a huge whiff of her scent in my direction. I breathed in deeply and was intoxicated by how amazing it was, how amazing she was. I could sit here for the rest of my life and watch over her. It was close enough for now.

Melody suddenly lifted her head up and looked at the sky and I did the same. It didn't take me long to figure out what was so fascinating. The one good thing about living in a small town where there wasn't much source of light was the millions of stars that you could see. It was mesmerizing, but not nearly as mesmerizing as the way Melody seemed to look happier now than she did before. She looked peaceful for once. It was like nothing could hurt her here. I would make sure of that.

Without giving any thought as to what I was doing I took one step forward and then another. She immediately sat up and squinted as she searched for the source. I kept my eyes on her face, waiting for her to notice me. And when she finally did I felt myself being tugged towards her again. It took everything in me to stay put and wait until it was ok for me to get closer.

Melody laid her head back down on the blanket and her gaze never faltered away from me. It was as if she were hoping to see me again. And that was great and all…but I wasn't human. If only she wanted me this way as a human then it would make things so much easier.

We both watched each other for a while. I waited for her to say something and I could only imagine that she was waiting for me to move. I wasn't sure of that though, so I stayed where I was.

After one more minute of silence she finally said, "I know you're there," hearing her voice made the invisible strings pull on me more, "And I'm not scared."

Good, I wanted to say. I was glad that she wasn't afraid of me. I waited a little longer before I gave into the pull and moved out of the trees where I had been hiding for a while now. Melody's eyes had a spark of curiosity in them and they were stuck on my own eyes. I could look at those pools of green for hours on end, but I'm sure she'd figure me out if I did…and she'd probably freak out. So I looked up at the house just to be sure that there wasn't any movement or unwanted noises coming from the house. We really didn't need her parents seeing me.

"It's ok," she told me, "Even if they saw you they wouldn't care," I looked down at her, doubting that they wouldn't care. Out of the corner of my eye I saw something that didn't belong on her wrist and immediately turned my attention onto the fresh bruise on her skin that was in the shape of someone's hand. I restrained myself from reacting in a way that would scare her and just watched as she began outlining the bruise with her finger, letting out a sigh, "I'm sick of not feeling good enough," my heart began to sink, "He always tells me how I don't respect him. But how can you respect someone who doesn't respect you?"

I kept my eyes on Melody's face as I walked a bit closer to her and then lay on the ground right beside her. It was the only way I could comfort her now. I just hope in the future, when I'm the same species as she is, I can make up for my terrible attempts at trying to make her feel better about a crappy situation. Melody ran her fingers through my coat while I just watched and waited for her to vent some more, "I'm trying so hard not to give up. I keep telling myself that things will get better, but I'm losing hope," I couldn't stop the soft moan that escaped from my mouth. I just felt so bad for her.

My nose pressed up against her forehead. It was a lame excuse for a comforting gesture, but she didn't seem to mind it as much as I did. She softly closed her eyes and I concentrated on her and nothing else. The girl lying right in front of me was crying out for help. She was asking a werewolf who desperately wanted her, for help. The only problem was that she didn't know I was a werewolf. She didn't know there was a human inside of this wolf that wanted to save her.

She looked at me again, with a look so desperate that I was sure of it now. I was sure that she needed me. Her fingers massaged the fur on my neck as she looked back up at the sky. It was a moment that I wanted to relive with her as a human. I could picture the scene in my head. Instead of me lying here with my nose touching Melody's face and my neck getting scratched I would be next to her with my fingers tangled with hers and both of our body's pressed up against each other. I would make sure that it was a perfect moment.

_Get your ass over here so I can go home._

Ugh, someone kill me…

_Leave me alone! _I shouted in my head.

Paul howled as loud as he possibly could. He so did that one on purpose.

I looked over my shoulder, glaring into the trees, _Can't you patrol without me?_

_Hell no, that would take twice as long._

I was surprised that he wasn't pestering me about where I was or who I was with. Maybe he just didn't give a damn. Wouldn't that be great…

I heard Melody sit up behind me and I looked back at her, trying to keep my thoughts as private as possible at the moment. I wanted to stay here with her and make sure that she was ok. It would make me feel a lot better if I knew exactly where her parents were at the moment.

_Brady, I'm going to beat your ass into the ground if you don't get here in about two seconds._

"You can't stay here forever," I felt like it was a lie because I could still see the desperate look on her face, "Just go," she stood up as if she were confirming that it was ok. Her eyes and her face were glistening in the moonlight. At that moment she looked so beautiful and breathtaking that I completely forgot about Paul and how much of a jerk he was.

I was being tugged again and it caused me to move closer-

_That's it. Where the hell are you? _

With one more glance at Melody, I jumped back into reality and managed to look at the trees one more time. _Impatient bastard._

_Good one…_

It took everything in me to not look back at her because I knew that if I did then it would only make me want to stay longer and with the way Paul was acting I knew I couldn't.

_Show me where you are, Paul, _I thought as I began to move into the trees where she could no longer see me. It hurt like hell to leave, but I didn't really have a choice right now.

An image of a clearing appeared in my head. It wasn't too far from here. Why didn't he see where I was if he was so close to me?

_I was just asking myself the same thing._

And then it hit me, _Ha!_ _I hid my thoughts from you. _

He didn't react; _It only took you four years._

_Shut up, _I picked up the pace until I finally found him just standing there in the place he showed me in my head. When he saw me he looked at me and was practically breathing fire, _Jesus Christ calm down. _

_Sorry if I actually want to get some sleep for once in my life. _

_That's the only reason why you didn't want to patrol by yourself? Because you wanted to sleep?_

He rolled his eyes at me, _And what exactly was your excuse for not meeting me when you were supposed to?_

I scowled at him, _None of your business, _if I told him exactly where I was then he'd just act like an ever bigger ass than he already was. That's usually what happened.

Paul chuckled, _Whatever, I'll figure it out sooner or later._

A low growl escaped from my lips, _I hate you._

_Good. _

We were both about to start our patrol when I suddenly heard the sound of leaves being crushed and then a twig being stepped on. I could tell Paul heard the noise too by the way he froze up. I was going to pass it off as nothing until a certain scent hit me. I knew who it was right away without even looking, but Paul didn't. My eyes slightly widened as I tried to come up with any reason as to why she would come here now. And of course she was standing only ten feet away from Paul, the most temperamental werewolf that ever lived.

As soon as I saw Paul's eyes narrow into slits and his lips curl up I panicked. He couldn't hurt her, she was my imprint.

_Paul, what the hell are you doing? _I questioned.

He wasn't listening to me; he was shutting me out and only focusing on her now. I turned and looked straight at Melody, trying to tell her to run with my eyes as best as I could. And that's when I saw it in his head. I saw him attacking her.

My head snapped back towards Paul, _Melody's my imprint! You can't hurt her!_

Still nothing.

I crouched down and imitated his fierce growls, _Paul, listen to me damn it!_

I could hear her frantic breaths as she ran away from the scene. Paul finally looked away from where she was standing before and turned his attention back on me. He was still tense from what I could see and he didn't respond to anything I was trying to tell him. When he lifted his paw off of ground I lost it, thinking about nothing but the image of him attacking her. I reacted without thinking and pounced on him not realizing how stupid this idea was until he bit my neck and had me pinned down onto the ground in a matter of seconds. I tried not to show that I was in pain because not only was he bigger than me, but he had a lot more experience than I did which made him have a huge advantage over me.

_Don't you ever think about hurting her again! _

_Or what? _He slammed his paw down onto mine which caused it to start throbbing in pain. I didn't respond. If he wasn't so much stronger than me, then I would've fought a lot harder than I was. But everything would work to his advantage if I tried, so it was no use.

_Yeah, that's what I thought, _he eased up on me and I immediately stood up on my own, feeling a little shaky at first. Paul let out a deep breath in an attempt to compose himself and then he started to walk in the direction of the borderline while I stood there, trying to come to terms with what had just happened. I looked in the direction where Melody was watching us from and felt a pang of guilt go through me.

_Don't worry about it. It's not like I was going to kill her._

I snarled at him, _Right, because you totally looked like you were going to just sit there and let her pet you._

_What like you did? _

Damn it, _Stay out of my head._

_Uh, if you haven't noticed by now…I can't. It's not my fault you suck at keeping your thoughts private._

I began to follow after him. _Maybe if you told me how you do it so well then I'd be able to._

Paul snorted, _That'll never happen._

_Whatever, just stay away from her._

He didn't respond as he started to run. I did the same except I couldn't keep my head clear while I was patrolling. I kept thinking about how freaked out Melody looked. If Paul wasn't so sensitive then none of that would've ever happened, but it did. And now I can't stop thinking about her…as if I ever could stop thinking about her.

As soon as I was finished with my patrolling I decided to check up on her to make sure she was ok. Thankfully Paul phased, so I would be the only one in their wolf form for a little while. It's nice when you don't have to worry about a bunch of idiots listening in on every single thought you have.

I stopped running when I saw the familiar house only a couple of yards away. I could faintly hear the sound of someone walking, so I tried to be as quiet as possible just in case it was one of her parents. When I was only a couple a feet away from the edge of the forest I could see Melody on her knees with her head in her hands. I didn't stop myself from letting her know that I was here. When she heard me she looked up and her eyes widened as if she couldn't believe that I was actually here.

But I was, and I would always be here for her. If only she knew that.

Melody began to slowly stand up, still looking as if she saw a ghost, and then she walked over to me, "Did he hurt you?" she asked.

I tried to do something with my head that would tell her that I was fine without looking too human. I didn't know what I'd do or what she'd do if she found out I was a werewolf right now. She took one step closer to me and scanned me over, shaking her head when she saw the teeth marks I figured, "It was my fault," she said.

She had it all wrong. I'd give anything to be human right now just so I could tell her it wasn't her fault. It was just Paul being Paul. I wanted to tell her the teeth marks would be gone in about ten minutes, but there was no way I could do that. All I did was nudge her. It was clear to me right then and there that I had to try harder to become a part of her life as a human and not so much as a shaggy canine. Even if it she rejected me over and over again I had to try.

**so i hope you liked it. Review and let me know if it was worth it. Do you want more from Brady? **

**next chapter will be good, i promise :) **

**if this chapter didn't satisfy your In Too Deep craving then the next chapter will! (hopefully) :D **

**please please please for the love of BRADY AND MELODY let me know what you thought of this chapter!!!!! **

**damn did that sound desperate or what? as if you guys aren't amazingly loyal enough with telling me what you think... :) **

**~KK**


	9. 8 All Because Of Brady

**here is another update :D**

**hope you like it**

Songs for this chapter-

(for dream) I Don't Care by Apocalyptica Feat. Adam Gontier

Go by Boys Like Girls

Chapter 8

All Because Of Brady

_There was a strange noise coming from the backyard. As I walked into the kitchen it became clear to me that whatever was making that noise was yelping out in pain. Since I couldn't put my finger on whom or what it was I didn't move any faster. I began to recognize something else though as I got closer to the back door. It was the sound of my father, shouting his drunken nonsense. That's the moment my train of thought started reeling inside of my head and I threw that door open so fast that when I made it outside I nearly tripped and fell. _

_I felt my heart literally stop inside of me when I saw the dark brown wolf lying lifeless on the ground. There was a pool of blood around him and a bunch of it was stuck to his fur. I would've walked closer to him, but my father was standing there. I stared him up and down, my eyes finally landing on his hand which was holding a knife covered in blood, the wolf's blood. I almost fell to the ground from the gory sight in front of me._

_And then something unexpected happened. As I stared down at the wolf that was slowly losing its life, I saw a pair of feet take one step closer to him. The tears that were forming in my eyes suddenly trickled down my cheeks when I looked up and realized it was Noah. He was staring at me with an unreadable expression on his face and his hand was holding something in them again, like last time. I furrowed my brows, not being able to speak a single word. All I did was stare at my brother from across the yard as the animal died and my dad watched. I couldn't move anything anymore. It was unfair that now out of all times I couldn't move. He was so close to me that I could practically smell the smoke on his clothes. _

_My view of Noah was blocked by my father, the monster that I was terrified of. He stared at me and I tried my hardest not to do the same to him. But anywhere else I looked there was something that would cause the hole in my chest to grow. I looked down at the ground and saw the wolf, my wolf, covered in his own blood. I looked over my dad's shoulder and saw Noah who was supposed to be dead. _

_My father started to walk towards me and all of a sudden I felt my body start to ache. One more step closer caused my ribs to hurt and my intestines to feel like they were being put through a shredder. When his foot touched the ground again my legs began to burn and then my eye began to throb. It felt as if every single part of my body was covered in bruises. I wrapped my arms around my torso and waited until my knees finally gave out. My cheek was pressed up against the moist grass and I stared at the lifeless wolf I was lying next to and then at my brother. When I tried to turn my attention onto something else I found something even more disturbing. Blood was trickling out of a cut on my hand and from a bunch of other cuts on my arms. _

_That's when I knew that every scar and every wound my father ever gave me for some reason was appearing again._

My eyes shot open faster than I ever thought possible. I looked at my hand and then at my arms to be sure that I wasn't bleeding. Then I threw my covers off and ran over to the mirror to see if I had a black eye. I ran my fingers over my cheeks and let out a deep breath when I was positive that everything was fine and healed. I lifted up my shirt and examined my stomach and ribs, relieved when I saw that my skin wasn't black and blue.

It was just a dream, nothing but a terrible dream.

My fingers gripped the dresser as hard as they could and my eyes began to water. I tried to keep quiet when I let out a few sobs. Everything bad that I had been thinking about lately piled up into that one nightmare. My father finding out about the wolf was one of them. Another was my brother watching from wherever he was as dad hurt me even more and me knowing that Noah can't stop him. And then there was me. Every beating I've had to live through before was going to haunt me for the rest of my days.

The sound of glass breaking caused me to jump and open my eyes. I wiped my tears away with the palm of my hand and slowly walked out of my room. As soon as I reached the top of the staircase I heard him throwing things and more glass breaking. I ran down the stairs and into the kitchen as fast as I could, glass digging into the bottom of my feet while I did it.

"Dad! Stop it!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, trying to get through to him so he would stop. He didn't listen to me. He just went into each cabinet and threw whatever breakable object was in there. I grabbed his elbow when he tried to grab another plate. I didn't realize my mistake until he looked at me with the craziest look in his eyes and then it was too late. He pushed me down onto the ground and I landed in all of the glass that covered the kitchen floor.

* * *

Once I managed to get myself into my truck I looked over myself to make sure I bandaged up every scratch and wound that covered me. I sighed loudly and sunk back into my seat, my body aching when I did. My arms were now covered in bandages because of how much glass was stuck in them. I could still hear the plunking sound of the glass as it hit the sink. If I wasn't late before, then I surely was now. Hopefully Brady doesn't think I bailed on him.

I started my truck and slowly pulled out of the driveway, thankful that I had an excuse to get out of the house for the day. Every now and again I would look at myself just to be sure that everything was kept hidden and then I would look at Brady's address so I knew where I was going. It didn't take me long to find his house though. La Push wasn't _that _big.

I felt relief when I got closer to the small red brick house because it looked like home. It looked like happy people actually lived there. It was nice to know that people like that still exist in this world. I parked my truck along the curb and stared at the house for a moment when I turned the engine off. Just from looking at the house I knew that it was a safe place and I didn't have to be afraid. It was a nice feeling, not having to be afraid for once.

My eyes never looked away from the house as I stepped onto the sidewalk and out of the truck. I knew that I was extremely late. And I also knew that I would have to come up with a good excuse as to why I was late. When I reached the top step of the porch I thought of the only reasonable excuse.

Before I could even mentally prepare for what I was getting myself into the door swung open and there he was.

"I thought you were ditching me again," he grinned at me.

I was going on a whim here, "I'm sorry, m-my car wouldn't start and t-then I got kind of….lost," it seemed like the worst time for me to be stuttering.

It looked like he was going to say something, but then his eyes looked away from my face and instead he said, "You're bleeding."

I silently cursed to myself in my head and looked at myself, realizing blood was oozing from the palm of my hand, "I-,"

"Here come inside," Brady opened the screen door for me and I stepped into the house, feeling like today was going to be a bad day from the way it started out. I didn't have time to take in what the inside of his house looked like because he started walking off and I figured I had to follow him in order to look…well normal. He put the top of the toilet seat down in the small, white tiled bathroom and told me to sit while he went and got a first aid kit. All I could do while I waited was stare at the small cut on my hand and shake my head at how stupid I was for not noticing it before. He returned a second later with the kit and kneeled in front of me, outstretching his hand towards me. My eyes flickered between his face and his hand for a second before I placed my palm face up in his. I slightly flinched away from the extreme change in body temperature. His hand was so hot. Was he sick?

Brady began to dab my palm with a wet rag, "How did you hurt your hand?"

I didn't know if I was making a mistake, but telling him the half truth seemed like the best way to go, "I cut it on a piece of glass," I shook my head as I went on, "I was trying to get a plate out of the cabinet and then I accidentally dropped it on the floor. I'm really clumsy."

He peered up at me and I swear for a second I thought he knew I was lying by the way he was looking at me, "This is going to sting a little."

The stinging was the least of my problems, "Ok," I looked at his face while he poured the rubbing alcohol onto the cut which caused me to feel no sting at all. I only felt a good tingly feeling on the inside.

Brady grabbed a band-aid out of the first aid kit and gently placed it on my cut, "All finished," he said. My brows knitted together while I tried to figure out why I always felt so much better around him. He caught me looking at him and I blushed, turning my gaze onto my hand.

"Thank you," I ran my finger over the band-aid while I tried to gather my thoughts.

I could feel his eyes on me, "No problem."

It took everything in me to build up enough courage to look back at him. My eyes met his and I felt my mouth begin to droop open. I tried to gain control of myself, but I chose to stare into his eyes which was a big mistake because I wasn't focusing and as soon as he looked down at my hand I just kept staring at him. His eyebrows furrowed and he started shaking ever so slightly.

"What's that?" he pointed at me and when I followed where his finger was pointing to I saw a scar on my wrist that was out in the open. Immediately, I snatched my hand away from him and pulled my sleeve over my wrist, "It's n-nothing," I held onto my sleeve as best as I could, trying to come up with something to say, "Um…" think! "We…we should…w-work on that…project."

After two seconds of me waiting for him to say something I heard the front door open, "We're home!" a very cheery voice called.

I looked at the door and Brady did the same, "Great timing," he muttered softly, but not soft enough.

A dark haired woman with russet colored skin walked through the hallway until she found us. She smiled at Brady and then at me, "Who's your friend, Brady?" she questioned.

Both of us stood up, "Mom this is Melody," he looked at me, "Melody this is my mom."

I stuck my hand out for her to shake it, "It's nice to meet you," instead of shaking my hand she pulled me into a hug which caused every part of me to hurt, but I tried not to let that show. I wasn't all that great at introductions and I didn't really know how they worked, but I would say that this is probably one of the nicest introductions I will ever get.

"So, this is the girl? I'm so glad I finally get to meet you, Brady talks about you enough."

"Mom…"

She let go of me and I looked over at Brady, "What? It's true!" she said, "What are you doing in the bathroom anyway?"

He sighed loudly, "Alright we're going to go pick up some supplies for this project before you embarrass me anymore than you already have."

Brady's mom walked out of the room and both of us followed after her. I glanced at Brady out of the corner of my eye and was surprised to see him doing the same to me with an apologetic expression on his face.

The three of us walked into the kitchen where a tall, burly man was unloading groceries from their bags. When he turned around and faced us I knew it was Brady's father because of how similar they both looked.

"Melody this is my dad," Brady introduced quickly before grabbing a coat off of a chair and car keys off of the table.

"Hi," I stuck my hand out and this time I actually felt like I was doing something right because he reached out and shook it with a smile on his face. It's not like I was used to this sort of thing.

"Nice to meet you, Melody," he said.

"We're leaving," Brady waved a quick goodbye to his parents before leading me out the door. I didn't quite understand why he was in such a hurry to get out of the house, but I also didn't understand how the whole happy family thing worked so I didn't question it. I took a look at the car that was sitting in the driveway while Brady opened the door like it was no big deal.

"Is that a nineteen seventy Chevelle?" I asked, gawking at the beautiful red car.

He narrowed his eyes at me, "You speak car?"

I shrugged, "Sort of. My…brother built a mustang from scratch and I helped so speaking car was kind of a requirement."

He smiled, "Impressive."

I felt my cheeks begin to turn red and finally stopped looking at the car long enough to actually get in it, "Are we going to buy supplies or was that just an excuse to get out of the house?"

He chuckled, "Both."

I tried not to look at him because of what happened the last time I did, so I just kept my head turned towards the window the whole ride to Port Angeles. In my head I contemplated what I was going to do. Was I going to try and become friends with him and see what happens? Or should I stay away from him? I glanced at him against my better judgment. It would be safer to stay away…but I can't deny this feeling in the pit of my stomach that keeps telling me he's good for me. Having someone like him would be good for me. He caught me staring again and I quickly looked the other way. But I just don't know if it's the right thing to do…

We managed to buy everything that was on the list of materials for the project and by the looks of the types of supplies we had to buy; it was going to be difficult. Since both of us didn't really want to go back to his house and start working on it right away, we figured we'd stop and get something to eat. Well it was more like Brady wanted to get something to eat. I swear I could hear his stomach growling the whole ride there.

The two of us sat in a small booth near the back of the diner. Brady ordered a burger while I order a small salad. I wasn't hungry really. I just wanted to stay away from my house for as long as I possibly could. So I agreed to go eat something.

We started talking about the project with each other while we waited for our food. Whenever there was a moment of silence I would think about what I wanted to do. He really wasn't kidding when he said we would only talk about the project for my sake. But maybe it wasn't best that way. Maybe I wanted to talk about something different.

"One cheeseburger and one small cob salad," the waitress set down the plate in front of me and for a second I just stared at the food, trying to make a decision.

"Thanks," I mumbled, not sure if she could hear me or not.

I felt Brady watch me as he started to eat his meal, "So, I'm pretty sure the only way we can get the beaker to actually break is if we make the sound level the same from the speaker and from the beaker. What do you think?"

Ugh, I was getting sick of talking about this stupid project, "Yeah, sure," I answered as I pushed the lettuce around with my fork.

"Is something wrong?"

When I raised my head and looked at him he actually looked concerned, "No, I'm just thinking."

He took one more bite from his burger, "About?"

It was a weird feeling to know that someone actually cared about what was bothering me. I've never really had that before. For once I felt like telling him the truth would be ok, "Where we stand."

He seemed surprised to say the least. I could tell that he wasn't expecting me to say something remotely close to that because of what I told him before.

"Where do you think we stand?" his voice was a lot more serious now.

I shook my head, "I really don't know," I looked at my salad as if it would show me all the answers, "I mean I know I said I didn't want to be friends, but there's just something…" I peered up at him, "Something about you that makes me feel like I'd be making a mistake if I tried to stay away from you. And then I think about everything bad that could happen if I did let my guard down and I'm back where I started."

He slowly reached his hand over the table and grabbed mine, sending a wave a chills throughout my body, "I won't hurt you."

I kept wondering why his hands were always so warm, "That's what I keep telling myself," I whispered.

He looked down at our intertwined hands and let out a deep breath, "Look Melody," he paused, "I don't know exactly what you've been through and I can't say I could come close to understanding, but there is one thing I do know," he bit his bottom lip as if he were debating whether or not he should come right out and say it or not.

"What?" I asked, encouraging him to go on.

His gaze met mine and I felt my spine tingle, "I know that I care about you," he rubbed the top of my hand with his thumb.

"How can you know that when we barely even know each other?" I raised one eyebrow.

He sunk back in his seat and watched me carefully, "Because I see how much you're hurting every day, Melody. And it kills me to see you that way."

I shook my head and pulled my hand out of his grip, "If you really knew me you wouldn't think anything of it."

"That's where you're wrong, though," he sounded confident, "Despite what you might think of me and the type of person I am, you're wrong about that."

I felt like I was getting nowhere with him. I began to pick at my food again in an attempt to end this conversation, but he didn't seem like he was going to let this whole thing go.

"You never eat, Melody," or maybe he was going to let it go.

"What?" I stopped what I was doing.

Brady was looking at my plate instead of me now, "In school, you always sit there and push your food around and not once have I ever actually seen you take a bite and you're doing the same thing now."

I paused for a minute, "I haven't had an appetite lately, it's no big deal," I answered truthfully.

He shook his head, disapprovingly, "You should really eat something. I mean when was the last time you actually ate lunch in school?" he said as he took a bite of his burger.

I sighed, "I don't remember. It's just, people stare at me all the time now and it makes me feel uncomfortable."

"Well, maybe they stare at you because you don't eat anything," he grinned.

My eyes narrowed, "I doubt it."

He tilted his head to the side, "Don't doubt what you don't know."

I stabbed the salad with my fork, "If I eat a little bit of the damn salad then would you stop pestering me about it?"

He shrugged, "Maybe."

Maybe was better than no, "Fine," I took a big fork full of lettuce and added a small tomato into the mix, watching him closely as I put the whole thing into my mouth and chewed, "Happy?" I asked once I swallowed it down.

He began to stare off into space, looking at everything except for me, "See, you're not interesting to look at anymore."

I felt my lips begin to be tugged upward and I kicked him in the shin softly. He chuckled and continued to eat his food while I was in a complete daze. I actually managed to smile. I couldn't tell you when the last time I smiled was. It was out of the ordinary for me to feel so carefree and…well happy. And it was all because of Brady.

Once we finished our food and paid for it we headed back to his house and worked our asses off. It took us forever to figure out what sound level would break the beaker. I could only tell you the sun was starting to set by the time we were finished. Brady's parents –who I was becoming more and more fond of each minute that passed- let me stay for dinner. I didn't refuse because of what I had to face when I got home, but I didn't eat either. I was too full to eat anything. I thought that the burger would've made Brady full too, well I was wrong. He ate two helpings of the meatloaf his mom had made. I have no idea where he puts all of it.

Brady and I helped clean up afterwards and then the two of us decided to go for a walk on the beach since it was only about a block away from his house. I felt jealous whenever I saw Brady interact with his parents. The three of them generally seemed like a picture perfect family. They probably fight here and there, but I bet at the end of the day they still love each other. I couldn't say the same for me and my family. We were dysfunctional and that was that.

"What are you thinking about so hard?" Brady asked.

I stared out at the sun as it inched closer to the ocean, "Your parents are really nice."

He didn't say anything right away, "They have their moments, though."

I turned my head in his direction as the sand seeped into my shoes, "You're lucky, Brady," I tried not to give too much away, "I wish I were that lucky."

He kept his eyes on our feet, "You know even though things might be bad now, they could get better."

I bit my lip and slowed my pace until I was no longer walking. Brady stopped with me, "That's what I used to think all the time, but now I don't really believe that."

Brady picked a small pebble off of the ground and threw it as hard as he could into the ocean, "I think I can change your mind about that."

I copied what he was doing, "You seem so sure of yourself."

"That's because I am."

I picked up another pebble and stared at it for a moment, "My brother was like that."

Brady stopped and looked at me. I was growing more comfortable around him every time he seemed to do that, "You really miss him, don't you?"

I threw the pebble into the ocean, "More than anyone thinks I do," my eyes were stuck on the small portion of the sun that was left. I tried to get my mind off of Noah for the time being, but of course I failed at doing that. Everywhere I went something reminded me of him, "Did you know him?" the words came out of my mouth before I could try and stop them.

"No, but Seth said he's talked to him a few times. He only had good things to say about your brother."

I wanted to be able to talk more about my brother, but I wasn't that strong yet. I don't think I'll ever be strong enough to talk about him, "I'm weak," I muttered.

"No you're not," Brady added.

I faced him, "I can't talk about my brother for two seconds without feeling like I'm going to fall to pieces."

"That doesn't make you weak."

"Then what does it make me?" I questioned.

He paused, "Human."

I watched as the last bit of the sun hid itself behind the ocean, "You give me way too much credit."

"Because you deserve it."

"For what reason?" I shot back.

He shook his head and laughed softly, "Does there really have to be a reason?"

"Yes," I picked up one more pebble and then I chucked it into the water.

"Ok, how about because you're not as bad as you think you are."

I raised one eyebrow, "No, I'm worse."

He half smiled at me, "You're really stubborn. Does that make you feel better?"

I shrugged, "Maybe a little bit."

We both stood there in silence for a couple more minutes, looking up at the black sky together. The moment reminded me of the wolf.

"I wish you could see it."

"See what?" I began to walk again and he followed after me.

"How great you really are."

I kept my hands in my pockets and kicked the sand as I walked, feeling butterflies starting to flutter around in my stomach, "I think this means we're friends."

"You think?" his tone sounded a lot happier than it did a second ago.

"Yeah," it was probably the most confident I've ever been before, "I do."

Before Brady could say something, I noticed Seth and Collin walking not too far from us and heading in our direction. They called for Brady and I took that as my cue to leave.

"I have to go," I was having a tough time letting Brady in let alone Seth and Collin.

"It's just Seth and Collin, you don't have to leave."

I shook my head, "No, I should probably be heading home anyways," as much as I didn't want to, "I guess I'll see you at school on Monday."

"Monday?" he looked at me as if I were crazy.

"Yes, Monday as in the worst day ever created."

He laughed, "I hate to tell you this, but we don't have school for another two weeks. It's spring break."

Crap, I was so out of it this whole week that I didn't even realize it, "Oh right," well that made me feel stupid.

"What are you doing anyways?"

That's a good question, "Um…I'm probably going to Seattle sometime next week."

"Need a traveling buddy?"

I felt my brows rise, "Traveling buddy? Is that what they're calling it these days?"

"No, probably not, but it's always better than going alone."

As Seth and Collin got closer to us I thought of what bad could come out of him coming to Seattle with me… I couldn't think of anything, "Ok, fine."

His face seemed to brighten from my simple response. He handed me his cell phone, "Here put your number in."

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and handed mine to him, "I'll talk to you sometime next week."

We swapped phones once we were finished and both stared at one another, "I guess I'll be seeing you then," he said.

I nodded, "I actually kind of had fun today."

"Kind of?" he feigned a hurt expression.

I rolled my eyes at him, "Ok I had a lot of fun."

He smiled, "Good," I tried so hard not to gawk at him.

We said goodbye one more time before we both went our own separate ways. I was dreading having to go back home. That one place would make it seem like everything that happened today was just a dream. I wish I were in Brady's shoes right now. I wish I could've talked to him a little longer too. But it was too late now. It was always going to be too late.

**blah i don't know why but i didn't really like how i wrote this chapter :/**

**that doesn't mean you guys didn't! so let me know what you really thought of this chapter in your reviews! **

**and i promise if you didn't like this one then i will definitely write the next chapter better, but you have to REVIEW! :O **

**things will get better i promise! **

**hopefully you liked Brady's parents. I didn't really know what to do with them, i kept throwing things around in my head until realized his family had to be normal for Melody's sake. You'll get to see more of them later :D**

**and please please PLEASE FOR MY SAKE check out Apocalyptica because they're an amazing group and for some odd reason i didn't know about them until yesterday when i was searching randomly on youtube**

**PEACE OUT!**

**~KK**


	10. 9 Never Have I Ever Felt So Normal

**here's another update just for my amazing and loyal readers :)**

Song for this Chapter- Save Me by JJ Heller (thank you Kyliez for telling me about this person)

Chapter 9

Never Have I Ever Felt So Normal

Things have always been complicated for me. Not once in my life has anything been easy. That is until now. Talking to Brady on the phone and making plans for our little trip was one of the most uncomplicated things I've ever had to do. Being able to actually look forward to a good day had been a rare thing for me too.

The past week had been everything I expected it to be. I stayed cooped up in my room as much as I possibly could in an attempt to try and avoid any beatings. Here and there I would find a new bruise on my body, but I had become good at staying away. I had a really good feeling about this week though. For some strange reason I felt…excited.

I wanted to earn some money for myself, so I began to look for a job. Part of the reason why is because my father kept screaming at me about it. Luckily the local grocery store called me back and gave me a job interview. I have yet to find out if I got the job, though. But even if I didn't get the job, at least I was trying. I was trying for Noah.

I pulled up in front of the small red house and honked my horn once. It was only a couple of seconds later that the tall, muscular seventeen year old walked out of the door with the biggest smile on his face. Happiness seemed to be radiating off of him. I had a feeling that that was going to become a regular thing for Brady.

He opened the door to my car without getting inside, "Are you sure you want to drive?"

I nodded, "I probably know how to get there a lot better than you do."

Brady finally sat down in the passenger's seat before responding, "I wouldn't doubt it."

With that being said I started to drive in the direction of the one place that held so many memories. I had yet to find out if I could handle it.

After about a half an hour of us listening to crappy music on the radio we began to ask each other questions about ourselves. His answers all seemed to be true and real while mine were pathetic and vague. It seemed as if he knew what questions were ok to ask and which weren't because of the way he worded each one. That one fact had me a little worried. What if he knew something? What if all of this was just a trick? What if-

"Let's play a game," Brady suggested.

I gripped the steering wheel tighter.

_You're being ridiculous; _his voice told me, _Stop analyzing every little thing and just live a little. _

Fine.

"Ok," I replied simply.

He stuck his hand out the window as he stared at the never ending cluster of green, "Never have I ever…been to Europe."

I glanced at him for a moment and he looked back at me with the same cheesy smile on his face that he was wearing when he walked out of the house, "How are we supposed to keep track?" I asked, knowing how this game was supposed to work.

He shrugged, "We'll figure it out as we go along."

I watched the road as I thought about what I was getting myself into.

_Stop thinking about it. _

I mentally yelled at my conscience for being annoying, "No, I've never been to Europe. What about you?"

He shook his head, "Nope. Now it's your turn."

I could tell you that I wasn't exactly excited to win, but then I'd be lying, "Never have I ever been told how hot I was…as in looks, not temperature," I smirked.

"That's totally not fair," he whined, "I can't help it."

I shook my head, "You never told me there were rules, so technically it is fair."

He paused for a moment before looking at me, "Alright fine. Winner gets to choose where we're actually going since you never told me there was a certain place. Deal?"

"Deal," I was so going to win, "So how many times have you been told you were hot?"

He groaned, "Too many to keep track," I didn't understand why he sounded so disgusted. Most guys would find that flattering…although I've never actually understood the male species, "Never have I ever worn makeup."

I flinched at that one. Only when I'm trying to cover up bruises, "Yeah I have. There you happy now? We're tied." I tried to look happy when I answered him, but I'm not sure if I actually pulled it off, "Unless-,"

"No, I've never worn makeup," he said defensively, "Don't even start."

I pushed the bad thoughts to the back of my mind, "Hey, you never know."

Brady rolled his eyes at me, "Your turn."

"Ok," I tried to come up with something good, "Never have I ever kissed someone," maybe I shouldn't have said that one, but my curiosity was getting the best of me.

He paused for what seemed like a good ten minutes, "Yeah," it sounded as if he were ashamed of it and I think I actually felt a little…disappointed, "But I regret it."

"Why?" I wanted to slap myself for asking.

"Because it wasn't the right person," I could feel his eyes boring into me and I started to feel exposed again, "I thought they were, but then I realized I was totally wrong."

I daringly looked back at him for a slight second, "What made you realize that?"

He had an extremely intense look in his eyes and I started to get the feeling that this stupid little game was going to get a lot more personal than I thought, "A certain someone," he answered. I started to feel myself slowly become jealous of whoever this 'certain someone' was, "You've never been kissed before?"

I looked at the road again, "No," I muttered, "I've never really felt that way about someone before."

By the way he was smiling I knew that he was happy about this fact. I didn't mind it as much as I thought I would. All I kept thinking about was how lame I was compared to him, "Never have I ever smoked."

"No," I answered quickly, "But my brother used to," I could understand why he said that one. I knew that I probably smelled like smoke because I was wearing Noah's sweater today. God, he must think I'm a junkie or something. Which reminds me…

"Never have I ever taken steroids," I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye and all he did was laugh.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but no. Never in my life have I taken steroids."

"Sorry," I said, "It's just-,"

"Don't worry about it. I know why you would think that. I'm not exactly what most people consider a normal size for a seventeen year old."

So there were rumors going around about him being on steroids. Why did Connor have to believe those idiots? "What about Seth and Collin and all the other guys you hang around with?"

"Nope," he replied.

"Well it's good to know people talk about you as much as they talk about me."

"Oh yes, it's the best feeling in the world to know people have nothing better to do except spread rumors about you," he said, a hint of sarcasm lining each of his words, "Never have I ever…" he paused, "Broken a bone."

I shuddered this time, feeling my heart drop. The memories of a certain day came back to me in a rush.

_I put my lunchbox and my backpack down by the door as I began to untie my shoes. As I crouched down to slip my foot out of my shoe, a shadow hovered over me. I looked up and met his cold gaze. _

"_Get up!" he screamed at me, grabbing my arm and twisting it in his grip. I cried in pain, wishing that Noah didn't go upstairs. Before I knew I was being thrown halfway across the room. Since I was so much weaker and smaller than him I couldn't put up much of a fight. I laid there on the ground and felt the tears start to trickle down my cheeks._

"_You told your mother that I hurt you, didn't you?" he shouted. _

_I sniffled, "P-Please, don't hurt me daddy."_

"_You told her I hit you!" he lifted his foot off of the ground and then stomped right on my arm with an immense amount of force. I could hear my bone snap from the impact, "You were supposed to keep your mouth shut!" _

_He brought his foot closer to my face and just as it was going to make contact with my head, Noah came in and grabbed a hold of his ankle, tugging as hard as he could in an attempt to get him away from me, "Leave her alone!" he yelled, "Mel run!" Run Melody!"_

"Hit the brake!" I heard a different voice begin to scream at me. My vision was all blurry at the moment and I blinked a couple times to try and clear it, "Melody hit the brake!" I soon realized who it was and once I came to terms with what they were saying I jumped back into reality and finally noticed the deer that must've sprinted out onto the middle of the road. I closed my eyes and immediately stomped my foot on the brake and waited for the glass to shatter, but it never happened. When my eyelids fluttered opened I saw that we were fine and the deer was already sprinting back into the forest where it came from. I let out the breath that I had been holding in and ran my fingers through my hair once.

"Are you ok?" Brady asked, frantically.

I felt my body start to tremble, "I'm fine it's just…I'm so sorry. I should've been paying more attention."

"It's ok. You didn't hit the deer."

"Yeah, but I almost did," almost wasn't even a good enough word for how close I was to hitting it.

"Maybe I should drive the rest of the way," he suggested.

"That'd probably be a good idea," I stared down at my hands as they shook.

Before I knew it, Brady was heading around the front of the truck and over to my side, opening the door slowly, "Are you sure you're ok?"

I peered up, "Yeah, I'm just a little shaken up."

He grabbed my wrist and helped me over to the passenger's side of the car. I shut my eyes for a slight second once I was sitting down, trying to shake off what just happened. My fingers were still trembling from the vivid scene that was brought to my attention by Brady's statement. I didn't think that just one game could hit so close to home, but somehow it did. Somehow I became the frightened little twelve year old again, scared out of her mind because her father had just managed to break her arm all because she told her mommy that daddy had hit her the other day. It would've been better if I told him that she didn't believe me now that I think about it. But I was just a kid. A kid whose brother saved her from getting her face stomped on. A kid who didn't know why her parents didn't love her.

"I have broken a bone," I blurted out. Brady took his eyes off of the road for a second to look at me, "I broke my arm when I was twelve."

He pursed his lips as he stared at me, "You win."

My brows pressed together in confusion, "But we're tied."

He shrugged one shoulder, "So, I think you deserve to win."

"Ok, but we'll never know who truly won the game. It's not as fun knowing you _let_ me win," I smirked.

"Fine, rock paper scissors then to see who the real winner is," he stuck he fist out in my direction.

I somehow got my hands to stop shaking enough to imitate what he was doing. Our eyes met for a second and I felt myself start to melt. I came up with which of the three I wanted to use in my head and then on the count of three we both revealed our choices. Brady chose rock while I chose paper. As soon as this happened I grew a little suspicious.

"Stop letting me win," I said.

He looked at me as if I were nuts, "I didn't let you win. You won all on your own, Melody."

I rolled my eyes, "Sure I did. I could see you holding back your game playing skills, Brady."

His lips pulled up into a small grin, "So, where to?"

I crossed my arms over my chest, "What makes you think I have a place in mind?"

He chuckled, "The fact that you wanted to go to Seattle in the first place, that's what."

"Ugh, fine to Ravenna Park," I felt my stomach drop when I said the name, "I'll tell you where to go," my eyes wandered to the window.

I watched as we passed more and more green, thinking about what I was getting myself into. I was still unsure if this was really what I wanted to do or what I thought I _had_ to do. Ravenna Park was the one place that could either hurt me more or help me heal.

As the ping pong game continued in my head, more and more time passed. Every now and then Brady would ask me something about where we had to go and I would answer him. Other than that I couldn't pry myself away from thinking about Noah long enough to hold a full conversation with Brady.

It seemed as if the closer we got the Seattle, the more unprepared I felt. I started to feel stupid for even considering going to Ravenna Park, but it was way too late to turn back now. I'm pretty sure Brady wasn't ready to go back to La Push, so I really didn't have much of a choice anymore.

When I began to see the park I had to swallow the lump that had formed in my throat during the drive here. It was all becoming too real for me and right when I wanted to say forget it, the door opened. I didn't even realize we had stopped until that happened.

Brady examined me for a moment, "What's wrong?" he asked.

Did I really look that terrified? "Nothing, this place just…brings back a lot of memories."

He nodded once and reached his hand out to take mine. I took one deep breath before I placed my hand in his warm one and stepped out of the truck. The whole time my stomach seemed to be doing flip flops inside of me.

"So, where did you plan on going first?" he questioned.

I looked down at our interlaced hands. I was acting like such a coward. What's the worst that can happen? Maybe I'll think about Noah too much, but isn't it a good thing that I at least think about him and remember him?

_Go, _I heard him say to me.

"Probably the children's play area," I said, truthfully.

He laughed, "I'm not even going to ask."

"You can't ask, I won remember?" I looked up at him.

"Yeah I remember," he grinned, "Lead the way."

I pulled him along with me to the play area. When I saw the swing set, the jungle gym and all of the slides that hadn't changed since the last time I came here I felt like somehow, Noah was here. As crazy as it sounds I could feel his presence near me. It made me feel like I no longer had to worry, like a huge weight was lifted off of me.

As soon as that happened I headed for the tire swing, which used to be my favorite part of this place. Brady finally let go of my hand as I sat down on one side of the tire swing while he sat on the side opposite of me. I gripped the chains with my fingers around them while my feet barely managed to touch the ground. There was nothing but silence and the sound of our uneven breaths. I stared into his chocolate brown orbs and he did the same to me. Every single time I did that I swear I could feel something tugging me towards him. It was like I had to try and pull myself back just so I wouldn't land in his lap.

"So why the park?" he asked.

I sighed, knowing that I would have to explain my reasoning, "Me and Noah used to come here almost every weekend," once I went over what I just said in my head I realized how weird it all sounded, "You probably think I'm weird."

"Why would I think that?"

My eyes traveled down his neck and over his shoulder until they finally landed on his huge hands, "Because all I talk about is my brother. I mean who wants to listen to someone constantly talk about their dead brother."

"I do," he replied. I watched as his fingers slowly made their way closer to mine, "I think I'd find you weird if you didn't talk about him at all."

I finally allowed my fingertip to touch his, "Really?"

I saw him nod, "So, tell me more about this place."

My heart started to beat rapidly, "We used to visit the university and then come here and fool around. Sometimes we'd stay in Seattle the whole weekend and just hang out here. I don't know, it's kind of stupid," I bowed my head.

He took my chin and lifted my head up so that I was looking directly into his eyes again, "It's not stupid, Melody. Stop putting yourself down."

"I can't, Brady," I whispered.

"Why not?"

I shook my head from side to side, "Because that's what everyone else does," I muttered to myself.

Brady let go of my chin, "Like who?"

I could see it in his eyes. I could see that he already knew who I was talking about even if I didn't directly tell him. Needless to say I wasn't about to say it out loud now. So I kept my mouth clamped shut and stared at both of our hands again.

"You can trust me," he placed his palm on top of my hand, "I swear you can."

_He's telling you the truth, Mel. _

"I wish I could tell you, Brady," I said, "I wish I could tell the whole world, but it's not that simple."

"It could be," he added.

I shook my head, "Not for me." We sat there in silence for a couple of minutes before Brady decided to get up from the tire swing for some reason. I stared at him in confusion, "What are you doing?" I asked.

He cocked his head to the side, "Follow me," he said.

I slowly rose from the spot my butt was practically glued to and did as I was told. We both walked up the stairs of the jungle gym until Brady stopped at an open spot that the ladder was supposed to lead up to. Let's just say it wasn't the safest area for kids to be hanging around since they could fall if any of them were to lose their balance or something. I watched as Brady jumped down from the spot like it was nothing at all.

"Ok, please explain yourself," I raised one eyebrow.

He smiled, "It's called trust, Melody. Turn around; fall backwards and I'll catch you."

My eyes widened, "You're nuts."

"Come on it's not even that high up and I'm standing right here. Nothing's going to happen."

"Yeah, sure you say that now."

Brady sighed, "I'm making this whole trust thing simple for you."

"I think it's a lot more complicated than me falling and hurting myself."

He put on a puppy dog face and attempted to look sad and innocent, "Please?"

I chuckled, "You're really pathetic you know that?"

He stopped his little act and smiled.

I looked down at him from where I was standing and tried to think of the worst that could happen. Well, he could drop me…but his biceps are bigger than my head so I don't think that's really possible. Or he could just not catch me at all and I end up falling on my ass. But he's standing right there…and he's not my father. He wouldn't hurt me.

"Alright fine," I scoffed, turning my body around, "If I get hurt in any way I'm going to sue you."

"I'll let my lawyer know," he laughed. I closed my eyes, "On the count of three, ok?"

"Yeah," I bit my bottom lip.

"One…two…three,"

I slowly started to lean backward until I was no longer touching the ground. Even though it was about a two second drop I felt the adrenaline start to pulse through me, just like the time I jumped off of the cliff. Only this time instead of feeling the freezing cold water envelop me, I felt two big, warm arms catch me.

I opened my eyes one by one and looked at him with a small smile on my face. It was hard to believe that someone that looked as good as he did existed. I felt extremely plain compared to Brady, and yet it seemed like none of that mattered to him. He was just an all around good guy with a minimal amount of flaws. And he was also my friend that I felt myself liking more and more. At that point I didn't feel like I was a waste of space. I felt like I was a part of his life just as he was a part of mine.

"I told you nothing was going to happen," he said.

"Ok, fine you win this round."

"Do you trust me now?" he sounded hopeful that I would say yes.

"A little," I admitted, watching as his face fell, "But a little is a lot more than I've ever trusted anyone," except for my brother.

"Well at least we're getting somewhere."

I never knew what it would feel like to trust someone that wasn't Noah, but now that I was starting to get an idea I kind of liked it. I admit though, never have I ever felt so normal.

**i hope everyone liked this chapter :D **

**it took me a while to figure out what i wanted to do at the end...the whole falling/trust thingy was done on a whim so i'm not sure if everyone will like it or not...let me know what you thought of that **

**and HOLY CRAP! never in my life have my arms been in so much pain D: this weekend i had to play a gig at this restaurant for two hours straight and needless to say my arms felt like they were going to fall off by the end of it and i had blisters on my fingers...it was painful to write this chapter but totally worth it cause we all made $80 dollars in tips! :D YAY US! **

**another update will be coming soon...i'm trying to decide whether or not i want to make it in Brady's POV...hmm i'll figure it out**

**let me know what you guys think in a REVIEW!!! **

**bye bye**

**~KK**


	11. 10 Beneath The Surface

**o.o -hides under rock somewhere- umm sooo i know i haven't updated in a while and i know that a lot of people have been like wth? where's the update but but but...i can explain!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**i've been extremely and i mean EXTREMELY busy lately...and lately i've been trying to focus on college and which colleges i want to go to and i've been drawing lots to show to some schools and stuff (you can find proof of that in my profile my avatar is one of my drawings) **

**sooo i'm SORRY x100000 that i haven't updated but but but here it is now :)**

**i hope you like the POV's in this :D and i didn't have time to fix my grammar errors so if there's mistakes sorry for that i'll fix them tomorrow **

**ENJOY!**

Song for this Chapter- Open Your Eyes by Snow Patrol

Chapter 10

Beneath the Surface

**Brady's POV**

As soon as Melody dropped me off at home I waited until I could no longer see her car. Once it was finally out of sight I ran into the woods and phased. If it were any other girl, then I'd wait at least an hour to check up on her. But since Melody lives with a bunch of lunatics I figured I'd go now.

The faster I ran the harder my paws pounded onto the ground. I was about halfway to her house when I could hear thunder roaring above me. I ignored the noise and moved as quickly as possible. Getting caught in the rain was the least of my worries right now.

_You going to Emily's? _

I hadn't realized that I wasn't alone until I heard Collin, _No, _I answered simply.

_Again? _He sighed, seeing where I was going in my head, _I'm sure she'll be fine, Brady._

I growled, _I'm not risking her getting killed by that asshole._

_You're overreacting._

I wish I were closer to Collin just so that I could strangle him, _If you could really see what he does to her with your own eyes and not just in my head, then you wouldn't be saying that._

_Ok, fine. Let's say something really bad does happen. You're just going to sit and watch? _

_No, I'm going to phase and get her out of there._

He sighed again, _Do you not understand what I'm trying to say to you at all? _I didn't say anything. I just kept running, _If you go in there and try to get her out what's she going to think of you, Brady? Even though I haven't spoken to her I know that she is nowhere near accepting the fact that you're a werewolf let alone her friend, _I snarled at that, _So if you just randomly burst through the door and beat the crap out of her dad where's that going to leave the two of you? _

_So you want me to act like nothing's going on in that house when I know there is?_

I saw him mentally roll his eyes at me, _No dude, I'm saying if you get yourself involved in this situation right now then she's never going to trust you. Yeah, maybe you're meant to be together, but she's obviously not ready to figure that out. _

The idiot had a point, _Fine I won't get involved...maybe._

Collin chuckled, _Whatever don't listen to me just come over to Emily's place when you're done. _

He didn't leave me any time to respond as he phased into human form. I slowed down once I finally managed to reach the edge of the forest that was closest to her backyard. As the rain began to come down I watched her. I would watch as she made dinner and as she cleaned it up. I watched as she sat on her small window seat and stared up at the stars crying every now and then. It went on like this for a couple of days. I would constantly watch over her whenever she left the house to work at the grocery store. Then when she came home I would listen to her parents fight and stare up at the window she always seemed to be curled up by. I knew I wasn't helping much by just sitting here, but like Collin said I couldn't get myself involved.

It was the weekend before we had to go back to school and I was spending my day sitting in the same spot I had been sitting in for almost a week. Not much was happening in the house from what I could see. I could just hear the shuffling of Melody's feet as she walked around her room. Her father was in his usual spot, drinking the day away while he cursed at the television. My ears perked up when I heard Melody starting to walk down the stairs. I raised my head off of my paws and stared at the house when I heard her father screaming at her for letting the trash pile up. He let out a couple more curse words before he told her to take the garbage out. I took that as my cue to watch closer.

As soon as I saw the glass door slide open my breath hitched. She stood on the deck for a couple of minutes, holding the garbage bag in her hand before she finally threw it away. I saw tears streaming down her face when she started to walk closer to the forest, closer to me. I didn't care if she saw me or not. At this point I would be happy just to be able to hear her talk to me even if I couldn't talk back.

I heard the door open again and my eyes immediately traveled in the direction of the sound.

"Get in the house!" he screamed and I saw Melody freeze up.

She wiped the tears off of her cheeks and turned towards him. As soon as she did though, he stopped dead in his tracks and his eyes grew colder if that were even possible. He looked over her once before he grabbed her forearm.

"What the hell are you wearing?!" he yelled. She didn't say anything, "Answer me!" he demanded.

I watched as her lips began to quiver. My paw lifted off of the ground and I took one step forward and then another, causing a twig to break. His head shot up slightly, but Melody's voice caused him to turn his attention back onto her, "N-Noah's…s-sweater," she barely whispered.

I saw him push her onto the ground, "Take it off!" He swatted his hand across her face, "Take it off right now!"

Just as he was about to hit her again I snapped and accidentally let out a loud snarl. The sound caused both of them to look towards the forest. His eyes began darting everywhere while hers landed right on me. I met her gaze and immediately calmed myself down for her sake.

"Fucking wild animals," I heard him mutter right before he backed away from her and ran into the house. All the while Melody eyes didn't stray away from mine.

I could see the tears that were trickling down her face because of the way the moon glistened on her skin. I kept my gaze on her as she rose up off of the ground and started walking towards me. She wiped the salt water off of her cheeks with the back of her wrist and extended her arm forward as soon as she was close enough to me. I closed my eyes when I felt her palm on the top of my head. I noticed that she was trembling and I wished that I could make everything that was eating away at her and hurting her just disappear.

Slowly, I opened my eyelids and took a good look at Melody. Her brows furrowed as she bit down on her lower lip, staring at me in wonder. I didn't know if I should look away or not, because at any given moment she could figure out that I wasn't _just_ a big huge wolf. Maybe if she wasn't so beautiful then looking away would be easier for me because right now it seemed like that was out of the question.

Just before my brain could completely turn to mush I heard her cell phone begin to ring in her pocket. She slightly flinched before coming out of the trance we both seemed to be in and grabbing the phone. Melody closed her eyes for a moment when she looked at the caller ID and realized who it was. I glanced down at the cell phone to try and figure out why she looked so flustered all of a sudden, but she put the phone up to her ear before I could.

"Hello?" she breathed, focusing on the ground instead of me.

On the other end I could hear rustling and someone mumbling to themselves before they spoke, "Meloooody!"

She sighed and closed her eyes again, "You're drunk, Connor."

He began to giggle, "Only a…aaa….liiittlee," more rustling.

Melody ran her fingers through her hair once before setting her hand on her forehead, "Why did you call?" she gritted her teeth as she spoke.

"Ow!" he shouted, "Stupid tree! Get out of my way!"

Did he just say tree?

"Tree?" she whispered, "Connor where the hell are you?"

More giggling, "Mel…Mel I just…..I n-need to…ha ha the tree ran into me…"

I rolled my eyes.

"Connor, listen to me!" Melody yelled into the phone, "What are you looking at right now?"

"I…love…"

She shut her eyes once more before speaking, "Don't talk about that right now, Connor," she muttered, "Just tell me what you're looking at."

I heard the rustling again from the other end of the phone, "It smells like shit," he slurred.

My eyes were glued to Melody when suddenly a sickeningly sweet scent hit me.

"Oh wait!" Connor laughed, "I see someone!"

My mind went in fifty different directions when I felt the scent linger in my nose. The aroma was all too familiar to me. Thinking about the fact that he was probably lost somewhere in the woods drunk and that close to a bloodsucker had me turning my ass around and running as fast as possible. I didn't know where Connor was, but following the disgusting scent seemed like I would soon find out. I howled when I got closer to Emily's house, knowing that the pack would phase once they heard me. Out of all the things that could possibly happen this I wasn't expecting. If it were anyone I thought I'd be saving right now it'd be Melody.

**Melody's POV**

I watched as the wolf ran off into the forest, feeling myself longing to run after him. But knowing what happened last time I did that I stayed put and brought my attention back to the phone.

"Connor I'm getting in my car and driving until I find you," I said as I walked towards the front of my house, ignoring the fact that my father could possibly notice I left. That didn't matter to me right now. Once I reached my truck I quickly got inside and fired up the engine. I grabbed my cell phone and put it up to my ear again, hearing absolutely nothing, "Connor?" I pulled out of the driveway while I spoke. There was still no response from the other line, "Say something!" I screamed.

Suddenly, the line went dead. I threw the phone in frustration and drove as fast as my truck could go up and down every street in La Push. Name a place and I had looked there. If Connor's parents found out that he had gone off and gotten himself drunk, then they would freak out. If he didn't give them any indication as to where he was or answer the phone when they call –which I'm sure they've done- then they would freak out even more.

It was around ten when I found myself driving down the darkest road possible. All I knew was that there were absolutely no street lights to let me know where I was heading and that there was nothing but trees around me. I don't know what I would do if I didn't manage to find him. No doubt I'd feel like shit, figuring that it was my fault that he got himself drunk. It was always my fault.

I slowly felt myself losing hope the farther I drove down the road that seemed endless. Pretty soon I was sure that I'd reach a dead end. What would I do if that happened? Search for him in the forest?

He said something about a tree though…

I squinted in an attempt to see some sort of sign that he could possibly be close. I was desperate at this point. My speedometer went down the more I took my foot off of the gas pedal and my eyes began darting everywhere. I looked to my left out of my window and then to the right out of the passenger side window. And when I turned my head forward again I pressed my foot down onto the brakes at the sight of a sandy colored wolf that was sitting in the middle of the road.

Once my car came to a complete stop the wolf stared at me through the windshield and I stared back at him in disbelief. It was the same height as my wolf and just as intimidating. And yet somehow I knew that it wouldn't hurt me.

The wolf slowly stood up from its sitting position while it kept its gaze on me. As it walked off towards the woods I watched it carefully, trying to grasp what was happening. Before it entered the heavily wooded area it glanced at me from over its shoulder and then it disappeared out of sight.

I blinked a couple of times and loosened my grip on the steering wheel, still a bit confused. That is until I saw a couple of empty beer bottles on the side of the road where the wolf had walked off to. I put my truck into park before stepping out and shutting the door behind me. My eyes were set on the beer bottles as I got closer to them. I got the feeling that the wolf wanted me to follow it. And since I was running out of places to look for Connor I figured I'd listen to the wolf.

I kept my eyes open as I took a few steps into the forest, hoping that I'd find him before something terrible happened, "Connor!" I shouted while I walked. It was pitch black and as a result of that I couldn't even see where I was going. All I knew was that I had to find him. Despite the fact that I was heading deeper into the unknown and scared to find out what the unknown was I kept moving.

As soon as I heard twigs breaking somewhere ahead of me I thought I'd find out what the unknown was a lot sooner than I was expecting, "C-Connor," I stuttered, my voice lower than it was earlier.

Who I saw made all of my fears wash right out of my system, "He's fine," Brady's husky voice said as he became more and more visible to me. Surprised wasn't even a good enough word to describe what I feeling right now. A million questions went through my head, but I shook them all away when I saw Connor's arm slung over Brady's shoulder.

"You found him?" was all I could say at the moment.

Brady's eyes met mine for a second, "Not too far from here."

Connor groaned and then he finally looked up at me, "Mel," he barely managed to spit it out.

I was still trying to absorb that the reason I was standing here was because of a wolf. Now I had to try and swallow the fact that Brady was here…shirtless…with my drunken friend slung over his shoulder…

"We should probably get him home," Brady suggested while I couldn't stop looking at him in disbelief.

I snapped out of it enough to respond, "Yeah…that's a…a good idea."

We began to walk and somehow Brady found the way out even though he didn't even know where I had come from. There were so many things running through my brain that I felt like I was going to lose it at any given moment.

When we got Connor into the back seat of my truck Brady offered to drive. I said yes because I didn't really think that I was capable of driving with how confused I felt. For part of the drive the atmosphere was completely silent except for the moans Connor would let out every now and then.

I scanned over Brady for a minute and took in his perfectly sculpted biceps and his washboard abs. My eyes widened slightly. Washboard abs? Oh my Jesus. I'll admit he has nice abs but did I have to consider them _washboard _abs?

I glanced at him again.

Fine, I do…

I finally took the time to notice the rest of him. His hair was a lot more tousled than it usually was. The only form of clothing that he was wearing was a raggedy pair of cut off shorts. I looked back at his face for a moment, noticing how hard he was concentrating on the road instead of looking at me. Maybe he already knew I wanted some answers.

"So," I started, "What were you doing out there at ten o'clock at night?"

Brady's grip tightened on the steering wheel, "Would you believe me if I said I was taking a harmless night time stroll through the woods?" he finally looked at me.

"No, because even if you were taking a night time stroll through the woods I wouldn't believe that it was harmless," I paused before continuing, "What were you _really _doing?"

Once again he started to concentrate on the road as if it were his first time driving and he was afraid of hitting something, "I was attempting to clear my head."

As I studied his face carefully I noticed something. By the way his lips were formed into a hard line and the way his eyebrows were scrunched together I noticed that there was something that he was hiding beneath the surface. Under all of the perfection there was imperfection.

"In the woods?" I wasn't the type to pry because I hated when other people did it to me, so why did I suddenly feel the need to do it to him right now?

Brady pursed his lips and looked at me for a slight second before looking back at the road, "What should we do about him?" he nodded his head in the direction of Connor.

I raised my brows in suspicion. If he didn't want to tell me then I couldn't complain. I'd do the same thing if someone asked me something I couldn't find the right lie to answer with. Despite that, "His parents would kill him if he came home drunk," I glanced over my shoulder, "But I guess-,"

"He can stay at my house," Brady interrupted.

I shook my head, "He's not your responsibility, Brady."

He shrugged, "Kind of is since I decided to get myself involved."

He did have a point there. I huffed and sunk back into my seat, trying to come up with a reason why Brady felt the need to get himself involved. Sure I get he was in the woods and all that, but he still didn't need to be the hero, "I still don't get why you were randomly walking around in the woods. Not to mention walking around in the woods without a shirt on," I bit my bottom lip in an attempt to not smile at that last statement.

Brady chuckled, "I told you I was clearing my head and what's wrong with walking around without a shirt on?"

I eyed him up and down, taking in his _washboard_ abs once again, "Nothing, I guess," I mumbled.

He caught me eyeing his muscles and my cheeks began to turn a deep shade of red, "Didn't think so," he retorted with a smug expression on his face.

I rolled my eyes, "Don't flatter yourself, I was just trying to understand your motive," I lied.

"By checking me out?" He smiled.

I felt my lips being tugged upward, "No," I muttered.

By the way his smile grew wider I knew that he knew that I was lying. I wasn't ashamed of him seeing through my lie. For the first time in my life my heart was speeding up for the right reasons. I couldn't even tell you how good it felt to be able to smile every now and then. It was something I would force myself to get used to.

***

I helped Brady lead Connor into his room where Connor immediately crashed onto the bed. While Brady went into the kitchen to get a bowl for Connor to puke in I sat down on the end of the bed and made sure he would be ok here.

Hopefully in the morning he would be sober and we could talk. I had the feeling that Connor wouldn't be too happy to find out where he had to spend the night. Honestly, I wasn't too excited for that part. I could picture the scene in my head and well…it wouldn't end pretty.

Brady came back into the room and set the bowl down beside Connor, "I should go," I said, disappointment seeping into my tone. If only I liked where I lived. I got up from the bed and turned my gaze onto Brady, "I'll come back in the morning to pick him up."

I turned on my heels to leave but was stopped my Brady's warm hand on my forearm, "Stay," he seemed to be pleading, but I figured I was just imagining it.

I peered up at his face, "I can't, Brady. You've already got him to deal with; I won't make you deal with me too."

He looked at me as if I were crazy, "That's a poor excuse."

I shivered from the warmth that was radiating off of his skin, "Really? I thought it was pretty good."

"Come on, just stay. It's already eleven, do you know what types of creeps are out there at this time of night?" he seemed to be pulling out every excuse in the book. Not that I minded this protective side of him.

"What about your parents?" I asked.

"They like you Melody. I'll even go ask them if it'll make you stay," I didn't know why he was practically pleading with me right now. I felt exposed again.

Going over everything in my head I heard his voice.

_Why are you hesitating? He's offering to let you stay at his house. Would you rather spend your night with dad or him? _

He had a point, "Alright," I tried to make it seem like I wasn't excited about the idea when in reality I was ecstatic, "I'll call my parents and tell them I'm staying here," another lie. If I called my parents it'd lead to more conflict.

Brady grinned, "I'll be right back then," he finally let go of my arm and walked out of the room again.

I shook my head, "What are you getting yourself into?" I mumbled.

Behind me I could hear Connor groaning, "Fucking r-red eyes," he slurred.

I looked at him and furrowed my eyebrows, "What?" I asked.

He managed to set his eyes on me, "Mel," he moaned.

I took a couple steps toward him, the scent of liquor coming off of his breath, "Sleep Connor. We can talk in the morning," I was dreading that conversation. I knew what was coming.

"No," he protested, "I saw them…I saw the…the wolves and the…" he started gagging, "Red eyes."

I could only describe what he was saying as the alcohol speaking for him. But then again…he said he saw wolves. Which reminds me of the sandy colored wolf that I saw close to where Connor was.

"Parents are fine with it," I jumped when I heard Brady's voice behind me, "Just as long as we don't uh, sleep in the same bed," I blushed, "You can borrow a pair of sweatpants if you want something that's more comfortable than jeans to wear to bed."

I examined myself for a moment, "I'll be fine. Besides, I highly doubt your pants will fit me."

He laughed, "You're probably right about that."

As soon as Connor decided to teeter his way into the bathroom instead of using the bowl we both guessed that he was going to spend the rest of the night in there. So, I was going to sleep in Brady's room while he slept on the couch which I tried protesting to, saying that it was his room and he should be able to sleep in his bed. Nonetheless, I didn't protest good enough to change his mind.

I checked up on Connor in the bathroom before I settled myself into Brady's bed. His mattress was tainted with his scent which made sleeping in it so much more enjoyable. I fluffed the pillow a little bit before burying my head in it for a moment. God what I'd give to sleep in a house that was this quiet at night.

A knock on the door interrupted my little fantasy and my head shot up at the sight of him, "I'm sorry," I said, "Uh, I was just trying to make sure your pillow was…soft enough…" this is where I begin to slap myself.

"I can see that," he smiled, "I just wanted to make sure you were ok in here."

I nodded, "I'm fine." A couple minutes of constant staring at one another and silence later I remembered my manners, "Thank you…for everything."

He walked closer to the bed, "You don't have to thank me."

More silence and staring.

"So, I guess I'll see you in the morning?"

I nodded again. As soon as Brady turned his back on me a flood of thoughts started coming back to me and before I knew it I asked, "Did you see any wolves?"

He stopped and slowly turned around, "Wolves?" his voice was more on the defensive side now.

Well I guess I had to keep going now, "In the woods where you found Connor were there wolves?" I paused for a minute, "Particularly a sandy colored wolf and a…dark brown one?" Stupid, stupid, stupid.

He walked over to the bed again and set himself down onto the end, keeping his eyes off of me while he thought of his answer, "No, I don't remember seeing any wolves, but I know what you're talking about."

I was surprised by this, "You do?"

His gaze met mine, "Yeah."

"So, I'm not crazy," that was a first.

"Not at all," he half smiled.

I felt an urge overcome me when I saw that smile appear on his face. It was the urge to reach out and touch his face, his hand, anything. Just so that I had some proof that he was real and not a figment of my imagination.

"You're too good to be real," I said before I even knew what I was saying, "I feel like you're going to fade away if I try to," I tried to come up with the right words to say, "get close to you."

Brady sat there for a minute just looking at me. And then he reached his hand out and tucked a piece of hair behind my ear, "I'm not going to fade away," he stated, "Just as long as you're here I won't, Mel."

He placed his warm hand on my cheek and I closed my eyes, soaking it all up. I liked the way he said my nickname more than I've ever liked anyone saying it, "I think I believe you," I opened my eyes again.

He pulled his hand away and kept a sweet smile on his face as he said, "Good," after one more minute of us gawking at one another he finally stood up and began to walk out of the room. Before he left the room he turned around towards me, "Goodnight, Mel."

I grinned, feeling my heart speed up again, "Goodnight," things were changing again and I knew it. And for once I felt good.

**hope you like my chapter! :D**

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	12. 11 A Reason To Live

**Yay! i updated again! :)**

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**Read on almighty readers! **

Song for this Chapter- Never Too Late by Three Days Grace

Chapter 11

A Reason To Live

**Melody's POV**

I breathed in the luscious woodsy scent that seemed to be surrounding me. It was extremely quiet when I woke up, something that was rare for mornings at my house. I turned onto my stomach and got lost in Brady's soft pillow. As I lay there, enjoying my moment of peace, a sort of recognition hit me. The aroma was too familiar to me. Even though Brady didn't smoke and there was no trace of tobacco on his scent, I could smell the pine. And it reminded me too much of my brother.

I raised my head off of the pillow and supported my weight on my elbows. Damn it, why does this always happen to me? Why couldn't I just have one good moment? Was it so cruel for me to want to escape the pain for a little while?

A knock on the door was the only thing that stopped me from breaking down. I rolled on my back and sat up.

"You awake?" I heard Brady whisper from the other side.

I let out a deep breath, hoping the pain would go away, "Yes," I answered.

The door slowly opened and Brady's tall figure appeared in the doorframe that was almost too small for him to fit through. His lips pulled up into a small smile before he walked towards the bed.

"Good morning," he said.

I tried my best to smile back when he sat down next to me and a huge whiff of his scent hit me. I turned my head away from him, "Morning," I replied weakly.

"Something wrong?"

I shook my head. Why the hell couldn't I stop Noah's face from entering my mind? I need to stop letting some stupid little coincidence take over. He does not smell like Noah.

"No," I sighed, staring down at my feet. It went quiet after that. For a minute I kept telling myself to just keep my mouth shut because who knows what I would say next to embarrass myself. But then I remembered the reason why I was here in the first place and I felt obligated to ask, "Is Connor awake?" I looked over at Brady.

He didn't answer me. He just kept a dazed look on his face and stared at me. I raised my eyebrows expectantly and he finally blinked, "Uh…yeah…he-he's awake."

Was I the reason why he stuttered? Did I accidentally say something that would make him look at me like that?

"I'm going to go check on him," I said, feeling my cheeks turn red. Brady nodded once, still staring at my face as if I had something on it. I was about to get up and leave when I accidentally blurted out, "Why are you looking at me like that?" my hands started to make their way towards my cheeks defensively.

He finally snapped out of it when he saw where my hands were heading, "No reason, you're just…beautiful."

I looked away from him and blushed even more. Before he could see how red my face was I stood up from the bed and made my way towards the door.

"I'm serious."

I looked at him over my shoulder and grinned as I left the room, feeling small butterflies begin to flutter around in my stomach. It didn't take long for them to fade away though, because as soon as I was standing in front of that door a bad feeling crept into my system. I wasn't ready to have this conversation with Connor. I already knew what was going to happen and well…I didn't want to have to go through with it. But I had to remind myself that if I didn't get this over with now, then things were only going to get worse.

I swallowed my fears down and knocked on the door before I opened it. Connor was sitting in the same spot that he was in the last time I saw him. And not only did he look completely hung-over but he also looked as if he were about ready to strangle someone.

"Hey," I said, not being able to find enough strength in me to take a step towards him.

Connor slowly raised his head, "Where am I?" he asked, his voice sounding hoarse.

Now that I got a good look at him I noticed how pale he was. Without any hesitation I walked over to the sink, grabbed the cup that was sitting there, and filled it with water. I handed him the glass and sat down on the floor next to his legs so that we were face to face.

Finally, I answered him, "Brady Greene's bathroom."

Connor sipped the water and then stared at it when he was finished, avoiding eye contact with me at all costs, "Wonderful," he replied bitterly. It grew quiet for a few minutes before he decided to break the silence, "So how did I end up here?"

I brought my legs in close to my chest and wrapped my arms around my knees, sighing, "You drunk dialed me last night, Connor," I clenched my jaw, "You started spitting out nonsense and caused _me_ to get all worked up over where the hell you were. I looked all over town for you. If it weren't for Brady then you'd probably still be stuck out in the middle of nowhere," I felt like slapping him, but it wouldn't help much, so I restrained myself.

Connor chuckled without humor, "He's such a hero."

I glared at him, feeling as if steam was going to shoot out of my ears, "I can't believe you, Connor. Do you really hate Brady _that_ much? Has he really been that terrible to you? Or am I the real reason why you're acting like such an ass right now?" He finally looked at me and opened his mouth to speak, but I didn't feel like giving him the chance to, "Brady doesn't do drugs and he's not in any sort of cult, so if that's what you're going to try to say to make me hate him too, then I don't want to hear it."

He sighed, "I'm sorry," he whispered.

I shook my head, "How could you do that, Connor? You scared the shit out of me."

"I didn't know what I was thinking. I ran into Logan and-,"

"Logan?" just his name made me feel like punching a wall.

Once again, he avoided my gaze, "Yeah."

I groaned, "Let me guess…he was having a self pity drinking party in his car again?"

He pursed his lips and I immediately knew that that's what had happened. Noah always told me about Logan's drinking problem. He had recommended rehab for him, but Logan refused. Whenever he and Cynthia would fight, he'd grab all the liquor he could find in his house and would waste away in his car. In the pit of my stomach I had the feeling that this time he wasn't drinking because him and Cynthia were fighting again. Somehow I knew it had to do with what happened to my brother.

"And you decided to join him?" I hated this, I hated that everyone around me suddenly seemed like they were going to end up like my heartless father.

"I wasn't thinking straight. I was feeling like shit because of what happened between us before spring break and I just needed to let loose."

I shook my head, "You're such a jerk."

He put his face in his hands, "I never wanted to hurt you."

"But you did," I bit my lip, "The minute you started drinking you did," at that moment it felt like I was back to square one. I felt like I had the one part of my life that seemed good ripped away from me again. It completely sucked.

We both sat there and didn't say anything for a while. I was too frustrated and hurt to try and muster up something now. And he…well I didn't really know what he was doing. Maybe he was too hung-over to try and win me over now.

I kept my eyes on my jeans when he finally looked at me again, "So…are you two together now?"

I flinched, "No, Connor," he was going to get into this now? Great, bring it on, "What makes you think we're together?"

He shrugged, "It's just the way he looks at you makes it seem that way."

I closed my eyes when my fingertips began to burn, "I can't be with him, Connor," slowly but surely, the pain seeped into my system again, "I don't trust myself enough to be with him."

"Why?"

I swallowed the lump that was forming in my throat, "Because I can't love anyone," my hands formed into fists from the pain that I could never seem to escape.

"That's not true, Mel. You loved Noah, didn't you?"

His name was a reminder of why I was feeling so miserable, "Yeah and look where that's gotten me," I chuckled bitterly.

He shut his mouth after that. I opened my eyes and looked at the bathtub I was sitting next to, reaching my hand out and grazing my fingers on the surface of it. The sound of bullets being fired kept replaying over and over again in my head.

"What about me?"

His question sent another sharp pain through me. I knew that it would come to this. This was what I had been dreading. He was going to ruin everything right now, "Please don't," I begged.

He sighed, "Why, Mel? Why can't you love me?"

That was all it took for the tears to make their appearance. I couldn't find it in me to turn my head towards him and reveal how much it was hurting me, how much I didn't want to say what I was about to say. But he had to know, "I'm going to die, Connor…that's why. I'm not going to be here much longer."

"Don't say that."

"It's true, though," and in that moment all I could think about anymore, all I could see anymore was my brother, "It's not worth trying anymore."

He touched my arm, "Why are you giving up now, Melody? Why can't you just fight?"

I let the silent tears roll down my face as I let the truth come out, "I've been fighting my whole life, Connor. I've been trying so damn hard to get through this. I just can't take it anymore," I paused, searching for the small amount of strength in me that was left so I could go on, "I constantly tell myself that maybe something good will happen and things will turn around, but then he hits me and tells me that I'm worthless and I know I'm only kidding myself. Noah's gone and it…it's killing me. Whether it's my father that finally finishes my life or me, I know I'm not going to survive."

I said it, I finally said it. It didn't feel like a weight was lifted off of me or anything, but it was something I just needed to tell him now before I no longer had the chance to.

"I'm not reason enough for you to stay alive?" I shuddered, "What was I a crutch that helped you get by?"

"No."

"Then why, Mel? Why aren't I reason enough for you to stay alive?"

I knew he wouldn't understand, "You're my best friend, Connor. And now you want to ruin that by saying you love me. You want to ruin everything…"

It shut him up again. He didn't know what else he could say to change my mind and I didn't think he could come up with anything either. On the inside I felt empty and numb. There was nothing left of me. After I said that I didn't really expect there to be anything left of me. But I was wrong.

_You're hurting them. _

I cringed. As soon as I heard Noah's voice I knew that that was the moment when there would be nothing left of me. No, I wasn't going to listen to him. Not this time. I quickly stood up from where I was sitting after I heard it, feeling shaky and unbalanced. My vision was blurry, but I didn't care. I just had to get out of here.

I grabbed the door knob and forced it open, nearly falling over. When the blood started to flow through my veins again and the numbness subsided ever so slightly, I turned to walk down the hall, but stopped when I noticed that Brady was standing at the end of the hallway with his head hanging low and his back up against the wall. I wiped my cheeks dry and stared him up and down for a moment, wondering if he heard what I had said. By the way his face looked I was convinced that he did. I was suddenly reminded of what Noah had said, _You're hurting them. _

Brady peered up at me, a lifeless look occupying his features. I turned my gaze down to my feet, "I have to go," I whispered.

He nodded once, "I'll take him home for you," even his voice sounded lifeless. Oh God he heard what I said…

"Th-Thank you."

He sat up straight, "I'll see you tomorrow."

I began to walk, not being able to do anything but mutter a simple ok to him before I walked out of the front door. I stumbled into my car and shakily put both of my hands on the steering wheel as I waited for my breakdown, until it finally overpowered every fiber of my being.

**Brady's POV**

All I heard anymore was her soft sobs coming from outside. Every single part of me was out of whack from what had just happened. I felt the invisible strings begin to loosen their grip on me because Melody no longer wanted me to be a part of her life. I was supposed to be whatever she wanted me to be and right now that was absolutely nothing.

My body began to shake and I immediately headed for my room, slamming the door behind me. I growled and clenched my hands into fists, pacing back and forth as I tried to drown out the sound of her crying. It seemed to be the only thing I could hear right now. I took one deep breath before I stopped pacing and forced my fist to go through the dry wall. I watched the dust float to the floor as the pull kept letting up on me.

I thought that I was finally getting through to her. I thought that maybe she would begin to trust me now. But no, I was completely wrong. She was giving up on everything, including me.

Again, my hand went through the wall. Damn it! Damn it all to hell!

About five minutes later, her crying subsided and her car finally started up. I waited until I could no longer hear the engine or smell her scent and then I fell to my knees, putting my face in my hands and letting the distance between me and my imprint eat away at me. Our connection was getting weaker and weaker by the minute. And I knew exactly why.

She was letting me and everything else go.

"_Whether it's my father that finally finishes my life or me, I know I'm not going to survive."_

It felt like an electric current was going through me, like I was suddenly in the chair and receiving the death penalty.

I heard someone's footsteps on the other side of the wall and I shakily rose off of the ground and cracked my door open. Connor turned around and looked at me, hatred in his eyes.

"Did she leave?"

I walked out of my room and closed the door behind me so that he wouldn't see the holes in my wall. My head bobbed up and down.

His shoulders slumped, "I take it you heard everything?"

More than you know, "Yeah."

He rolled his eyes at me and began to head for the door, "Just take me home already," he muttered.

My jaw clenched as a twinge of pain ran through me. I closed my eyes and relaxed my muscles, trying to ignore it as I grabbed my keys and followed him out the door. I quickly got into my car and started it up, wanting to get this car ride over as soon as possible.

***

"You can stop here," Connor mumbled.

I sighed and pulled over, feeling like punching him square in the face because of how much of a douche he seemed to be. I get it, he thought I was on steroids and was stealing his best friend from him. But he really didn't seem to see how wrong he really was…

I expected him to jump out of the car as soon as I was completely stopped, but he didn't. All he did was sit there and stare at the house we were in front of.

"Look," he said, "I don't really know what your intentions are with Melody, but just so you know," he turned and glared at me, "If you hurt her in any sort of way I swear I will beat the shit out of you," the only thing that kept me calm right now was the fact that he thought he could actually beat the shit out of me. Right, I'd like to see him try, "She doesn't need any of that."

All I could do was nod. I understood that he was trying to look out for her, but he didn't know me at all. If he actually knew something about imprinting and what it was like then maybe, just maybe, I would tell him just how deeply I felt for Melody.

"I really don't know what else I can do for her," he said, "She's been shutting me out ever since Noah died. I'm not sure if therapy's been helping her, but it doesn't seem like it's been doing much good," he paused, "I just don't want her to end up like her brother did."

At that moment, I knew. I knew the reason why he started talking about this. I waited for him to go on to be sure that I was correct though.

"Melody seems happier when you're around," he admitted, "She hasn't smiled or showed any signs of life in her in a while. But for some reason she acts different around you," I stared out of the windshield as I absorbed everything he was saying, "I guess what I'm just trying to say is…despite everything she said earlier I know she needs you," he opened the door and stepped out of the car, looking at me seriously, "Save her, Brady. Before she does something she'll regret."

And with that he closed the door and left. I sat there for a couple of minutes in a complete daze, going over what he said to me. And even though he hated me and hated who I was, he cared too much about Melody to watch her kill herself. If I seemed to make Melody happy, then he was willing to let me try to heal her.

I pulled out of the driveway and headed for my house, driving as quickly as my car would go. The pain was becoming unbearable. I knew the only reason why I was hurting so bad was because of Melody. Her pain was my pain. Even though she might think that she doesn't want me and she doesn't need me, I knew better. She was miserable and would find any excuse to make herself even more miserable because that's what she thought the solution was. But it wasn't the solution.

I ran into my backyard as soon as I got home. When I reached the edge of the forest I took my shirt and shorts off and phased, grabbing them in my teeth before I began to run. Thankfully, no one else was in their wolf form. I really didn't need any of their thoughts inside of my head and I truly did not need mine in theirs.

I ran as quickly as possible, following the imprint pull until I ended up in the wooded area behind her house. I looked up at the house and saw that she wasn't sitting in her usual spot in her room and she wasn't in the backyard. I felt a tug on my spine and jerked backward, turning my head but not moving. It wasn't until I smelled her scent that I realized what the tug really was. I followed to where her scent led to until I could hear her sobbing.

The minute that I saw her sitting on that huge, moss filled log with her arms wrapped around her head and her knees in close to her chest, I stopped walking and dropped the clothes that were in my mouth. The red leather journal that she had left in history class a couple of weeks ago was lying on the ground next to her and I could tell from here that she was holding something in her hand, but I couldn't decipher what it exactly was. And for some strange reason I smelled…blood.

I took a couple of steps forward, my eyes never faltering away from her face, and waited until she finally noticed me standing there. Melody held her breath when she saw me and lifted her head up off of her arms. I felt my heart sink when I looked into her eyes and saw defeat in them. She was really giving up. And I could only think that she came out here to die. I cringed at the thought, but moved forward to let her know that I was here for her.

As soon as she knew it was me, she began to breathe again. Her hands fell to either side of her and her fists opened. Melody began to cry again and the scent of blood only seemed to get stronger. It only took me a second before I found the source.

I stepped closer and closer to her until I could clearly see the blood that was oozing out of her hand. In it, a small silver razor was digging into her skin. My heart shattered in that moment and I felt my legs begin to feel weak. The razor fell to the ground and I looked up at her face, trying to let her know that it wasn't too late. There was still hope for her.

"I ca-can't d-do it a-a-anymore," she whispered.

I shook my head, not caring how human or inhuman I looked right now. The only thing that really mattered to me was her.

Melody reached her unscathed hand out towards me and ran her fingers through my fur. She did this a couple of times before I felt her whole body suddenly collapse. I closed my eyes as I tried to think of something other than how much worse she could've hurt herself if I didn't get here when I did. Just knowing that she was willing to cause herself pain was enough to let me know that Connor was right. I had to save this girl.

Eventually, she fell asleep with her head resting on my neck and her arms curled desperately around me. I didn't mind it. So long as she was safe here with me then I didn't care. I waited until it was dark to quickly phase and put on the clothes I had brought with me. I looked over Melody once before I picked her up in my arms and began to carry her back to her house. From the looks of it, and the smells of it, no one was home. Usually, this meant her father was getting drunk and her mother was staying late at work. I never really saw much of Melody's mom because she always seemed to avoid her house. I glanced down at my imprint for a moment. How anyone could ever think of hurting her was crazy to me. How any parent could deliberately avoid their child was even crazier to me.

I walked through the backyard and into the house through the sliding door that led to the kitchen. When I reached her room she began to fidget in my arms. I stared at her face for a moment before gently laying her on her bed. She let out a deep breath and stirred in her sleep, muttering nonsense. I chuckled softly before heading into the bathroom and grabbing some gauze.

After I was finished cleaning her hand and bandaging it up I stared at her, amazed at how heavy of a sleeper she seemed to be. I bet if someone set off an atomic bomb next door then she wouldn't even wake up.

I wiped away the tears that were still trickling down her cheek before I kissed her on the forehead. I figured I should leave now before she really woke up. As I opened the window and looked back at her I made a promise to myself. I'm going to do whatever it takes to make Melody see that it wasn't too late for her. I would give her a reason to live.

**i really hope that wasn't too depressing for you :/**

**next chapter will be happier i promise. And i don't know why, but i'm starting to like the whole switching POV's thing. I'm not sure if every chapter will be switching POV's but recently i've felt like letting you see into both of their heads. **

**alright so hopefully you're all still out there **

**and if you really want more from me, then go check out my other story, Best Friends No More, leave a review and then i will love you forever and ever :)**

**Who bought New Moon? (ME ME ME!) **

**~KK**


	13. 12 Treading Water

**Sorry for the wait guys :/ i've been so preoccupied with my other story and finishing it that i haven't had much time to think about this one. You can hit me all you want...i'll be taking slaps and punches after the chapter XD **

Song for this Chapter- Storm by Lifehouse

Chapter 12

Treading Water

**Melody's POV**

_I was drowning again. I saw the surface get farther and farther away from me. I wasn't bothering to tread water or even try to reach the oxygen that my body was desperately pleading for. All I really did was watch as the familiar scene unfolded right before my eyes. I waited until the big russet colored figure jumped into the water again. I saw him, but for some reason he wouldn't come any closer to me. He just kept floating in the same spot, watching me. And the farther down I was being pulled into the ocean, the more blurry the figure was getting. I just stared at him, wondering why the angel wouldn't save me this time and why I felt as if I knew him._

I found myself gasping for air again. My eyes opened and I clutched my hands around my throat as I coughed up the non-existent water that I was choking on. I looked around my room and waited until my breathing finally reached a normal rhythm. I tried to shake away the pain that the dream had brought on. Thinking about that one day when my world fell apart was torture to me. The day was like a scar. It was always going to be there. It wouldn't erase from my memory and would take a while to fade away. And yesterday…well let's just say it's another scar I'm just going to have to deal with.

I curled up into a ball on my bed and let my eyelids close again, wanting to forget every single thing that happened yesterday. But the emptiness and loneliness seemed to consume me again. I felt the hole in my chest begin to grow bigger.

Burying my face in my hands, I sobbed quietly to myself. It only took me a minute to realize that my hand was covered in gauze. And just like the last time this happened to me, I didn't know how I got home and bandaged my hand up. I don't remember any part of it. If only I couldn't remember why I was feeling so miserable this morning instead…

I looked over at my clock and sighed. If I didn't get up now I'd be late for school. I wish I could be late today. But I have to go in order to reassure Connor that I wasn't dead…and Brady.

His name sent a chill up my spine as I got up from my bed. I wanted to punch myself for being so careless yesterday. He definitely did hear everything that I said to Connor. I could only think that he was going to start to treat me like the freak that everyone else thinks I am. Now he kind of knows the kind of life I live. Maybe he doesn't know everything, but he knows enough to not speak to me ever again. I stared at my bandaged hand as I walked. I wouldn't blame him if he didn't want to speak to me.

* * *

I flinched from the stinging pain that began to consume my left cheek after my father's hand whipped across my face. I grabbed the smock I was supposed to wear for work before I headed for the door.

"Don't come back to this house until you learn how to act like a responsible adult instead of an ungrateful little bitch!"

I slammed the door behind me as I walked out of the house and practically flew down the stairs. Once I reached my banged up truck I began to kick the front tire and let the rage take over.

"What more do you want from me?" I screamed as I beat the shit out of the truck, pretending that it was my poor excuse for a dad. It probably did more damage to my foot than it did to the actual tire, but I couldn't care less. I had to take my anger out on something that couldn't fight back, "I'm," kick, "not," kick, "your fucking," kick, "punching bag!" Four more kicks to the tire and I couldn't take anymore. I fell to the ground and sat up against the door of my truck, staring up at the overcast sky.

I was sick of being called ungrateful and irresponsible. Deep down I knew it was all a bunch of bull shit and I shouldn't listen to him, but it still hurt to hear. I didn't understand why he felt like taking his anger out on me. He was supposed to be my dad. He was supposed to love me unconditionally and take care of me. But he doesn't and I don't understand why. I don't get why he hates me so much.

I heard a car engine coming down the road, but paid no attention to it as I stared up at the sky. The car came to a stop in front of my house and the door opened and closed. I still didn't feel like acknowledging that it was there nor did I feel like paying attention to who was walking towards me.

It wasn't until they were about ten feet away from me that I started to recognize who it was. I smelled Brady's scent before I actually saw him. He sat down on the ground right next to me and neither of us spoke a single word to one another. I wasn't thinking about anything anymore. My mind was completely blank.

My eyes wandered until they began to travel up his legs and to his forearm. I didn't let them wander any further. I just concentrated on his arm. It amazed me that he felt like showing up at my house after what had happened yesterday. Maybe he pitied me because he knew a small portion about my life. Maybe he just wanted to tell me that he couldn't stay friends with me because I was too difficult to deal with.

"Why'd you come here?" I said, wanting to rip off the band-aid already.

"I was wondering if you wanted to ride to school with me today."

My brows pressed together and I turned my eyes back up to the cloudy sky, feeling confused. How could he still be speaking to me so casually? It was like yesterday never even happened. Not that I was complaining about that, "With you?" I looked at the front door in fear. If he found out that I rode to school with someone, what would he do? He was already pissed off at me enough. I didn't need to be hurt any worse.

I suddenly felt him brush a couple strands of hair out of my face. His hot fingertips touched my cheek where my father had hit me, "What happened?" his voice sounded shaky.

I turned my face farther away from him, "I have work after school," I tried to avoid lying to him.

His eyes burned right through me, "I can drive you, it's not a problem," thankfully he let go of his previous question.

I had a bad feeling about what would come out of riding to and from school with him. I could see my father's reaction now. But he was offering me more time to forget about everything else that was pestering me. Plus, I was already beginning to feel myself become calmer the longer I sat here with him.

"OK," I agreed.

He stood up and for the first time today I saw his face. He looked abnormally happy today. It was strange because I wasn't expecting him to act like this at all. He seemed to be overjoyed just because I said I'd let him take me to school. It was contagious because I found myself begin to feel overjoyed as well. I'd be spending more time with him.

He reached his hand out toward me and I took it immediately, standing up and grabbing my books. I walked towards his car, wondering how he even knew where I lived in the first place. Once we both got settled into his car and we were on our way to school I decided to pose the question.

"So, how did you figure out where I live?" I asked, staring at my bandaged hand.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw him tense up, "I didn't," he said, "I always pass your house on my way to school. I just didn't realize it was your house until I saw you sitting out there."

I glanced at him, debating whether or not I should believe that. I didn't feel like getting into it, though. So I figured I'd let it slide.

The rest of the ride there for the most part was pretty quiet. I still felt like he was doing this just because he pitied me and my pathetic self. Why else would he be sticking around? Why would he waste his time on me when he knows I'm only a whiny messed up teenager? I looked over at him again. He's way too good for me. I shouldn't be dumping my problems onto a guy who could probably have any girl he wanted. He was so out of my league that I couldn't even put it into words if I tried.

The car stopped and Brady caught me staring at him. His eyes latched onto mine and I felt a sort of warm feeling overcome me. If I could have looked away I would have. But there was something that didn't allow me to do that. I couldn't say what it was exactly, just that I wanted to slap myself for letting my feelings get the best of me.

I blinked a couple of times and turned my head in the other direction. It seemed a lot harder to look away than I assumed it would've been and just feeling that hint of devastation caused me to open the door as fast as I possibly could, "Thanks for the ride," and just as I was about to escape, Brady's hot hand grabbed my own and prevented me from moving any further.

"Wait, Mel," there was a hint of desperation in his voice that made me stop myself. I looked down at his hand that was wrapped around mine and waited for him to say what he needed to say, "Can I…walk with you to class?" he asked sheepishly.

I melted at his words. Not only did he want to take me to school, but he wanted to walk to class with me as well. It seemed like instead of trying to stay away from me because of what happened yesterday he was only trying harder to be friends with me.

"A-Are you sure?" I stuttered at the reality of it all.

He chuckled, "Yes, I'm sure."

I shook my head, "You confuse me Brady Greene," I sat there staring at him, not caring about how much time was passing.

"You really want to be late for class, don't you?"

I blushed and mustered up a small laugh. He was up and out of the car in less than a second and already standing on the passenger's side ready to take my hand before I could even blink.

"And I see you really love having perfect attendance don't you?" I grabbed his hand yet again and stepped out of the car.

"Yes, I have a plaque on my wall from last year for that," he said sarcastically, "Wouldn't want to be the one to break my perfect attendance record, would you?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "I don't know I'm feeling kind of slow today."

He began to laugh which brought on an unfamiliar feeling. A comfortable and safe feeling, like I was talking to someone I've known for years. The only other person I've ever been able to talk to like this was Noah. And just knowing how rare all of this was for me sort of freaked me out…

Brady didn't leave my side once during the first half of the day. I went to my locker and there he was, leaning up against the locker next to mine as if it was just natural for him to do that. He walked with me to physics and then after that he walked me to my next class. I figured since I didn't have second period with him, then we would just go our separate ways. But no, he walked me to my class even if his class was on the whole other side of the school. I felt extremely ungrateful and guilty about that, but Brady…well let's just say he thought otherwise.

Lunch came along and Brady had sat with me and Connor instead of Seth and Collin. The weirdest part about lunch was that Connor seemed a lot more accepting of Brady. That was when I started to get suspicious about everything that had been going on so far today.

For the next couple of classes I tried to figure out exactly what was going through both of their heads. Everything seemed to pinpoint to yesterday. I really couldn't think of anything else that could make them act like I suddenly needed them to always be around me and extremely happy whenever they were.

Thankfully, when I needed it most, my free period rolled along. I didn't feel like waiting for Brady to come and walk me to this class. I just needed this time to think through everything.

Once I reached the abandoned music room I immediately sat down at the piano and rolled up my sleeves to play. I closed my eyes and let my fingers do the rest. There was no specific song I was playing at the moment; it was just a bunch of chords and tunes that fit with what I was feeling. I really didn't know how to explain what I was feeling either. So, I expressed it through the music I played.

I took a couple of deep breaths as I let myself think about yesterday. The song took a turn as my fingers began to hit deeper chords and a darker tune took over the slightly happier one I was playing before. Yesterday was my breaking point. I thought that maybe I was going to stop hurting myself and I was going to abandon the loneliness I had been feeling when Noah died. But I was wrong, because I had felt so bad that I wanted to just die.

I opened my eyes one by one and watched my hands now, my right one specifically since it was magically bandaged up. How it got that way I couldn't exactly put my finger on. I just knew that I had come so close to breaking my promise to Noah. If it wasn't for the wolf then I probably would've gone back to my old habit and slit my wrist.

For some reason, when I thought about the wolf I began to think about Brady. And of course I thought about the previous day. He's acting like yesterday never even happened. Like I hadn't said that I wanted to give up and instead I said I loved life. Then I thought about this morning. He was acting not exactly clingy but…protective of me. I didn't know what could've triggered him to act that way, but I assumed it was also because of what he had heard yesterday. But I still didn't know if I could believe him even if he was trying to protect me. It was only natural for me to put my guard up. Then again, Brady is the only one who has gotten me to smile ever since my brother died.

My fingers suddenly began to slow down until there was not a single sound in the music room. I could only hear my unsteady breaths as it kept getting harder and harder to breathe.

"You're good," a deep husky voice that I knew belonged to the one person I couldn't stop thinking about came from behind me.

I let a single tear escape before I looked at the doorway, "I thought you didn't like being late for class," I mumbled.

"Guess I lied," he walked over to piano and sat on the bench right next to me, fixating his eyes onto my face, "What were you playing?"

I sucked in a deep breath, "Nothing really, just some random chords."

"You call that just some random chords?"

I didn't say anything. My focus wasn't on the song anymore. It was on something entirely different now.

"What's bothering you?" he asked.

My hands balled into fists on top of the keys, "I don't understand how you could be sitting here next to me," I whispered to myself, wanting to know why he didn't despise me, "You should be disgusted by me."

He shook his head from side to side, "I could never be disgusted by you."

I ducked my head, "You say that like you didn't hear everything I said yesterday."

His eyes were set on my face. Instead of saying something he placed his hand over mine and interlaced our fingers. It wasn't until I actually looked at our hands that I realized my sleeves were rolled up. I didn't panic because he practically knew about all of that already. Maybe if I show him, then he'll finally realize how much he's wasting his time.

I slowly rolled my arm over and revealed to him the many scars that showed just how screwed up I was. He didn't gasp or run away or call me insane. He just squeezed my hand.

"See, I'm disgusting," my vision became less and less clear as the sea of tears dampened my eyes. I turned my face as far away from him as I could so he wouldn't notice.

He let go of my hand, "Look at me, Melody," he said.

I shook my head and stood up from the bench, keeping my back towards him and glaring at the wall, "Do you see how different I am from you, Brady? I've been dug into a ditch that I'm never going to be able to get out of. You shouldn't have to waste your time trying to save me because I'm not worth it."

I felt his hot breath on the back of my neck as he stood behind me, "Please look at me," I reluctantly turned myself around and faced him, but I restrained myself enough to not look directly at his face, "I don't care about scars, Melody. And I don't care that you think I shouldn't be spending my time with you. To me you're worth every minute," he placed both of his palms on my cheeks and brushed away the tears that I had shed.

I grabbed his wrists and forced him to let go of my face, "I can't do this," I whispered to him.

His arms dropped back down to his side, but determination was still written all over his face, "I'll help you," he paused, "I swear to you that I will do whatever it takes to make you believe that your life isn't over yet."

I finally looked at his face. All that was running through my head now was how much he didn't have to help me and yet he was saying that he would, "Why do you want to help me?" was all I could come up with to say.

He stared straight into my eyes, "Because I don't want to see you hurt yourself more than you already have. And I don't want…" he sighed and clamped his mouth shut. It was like he wanted to say something else, but for some reason he couldn't, "I don't want anyone else hurting you either."

My stomach dropped at that. I felt like he wasn't saying that in general, he was saying it to specifically…my father.

"No one else is hurting me," I lied as best as I could under the circumstances. My gaze faltered away from his and I could practically hear him in his head calling me a liar, "You don't need to help me, Brady. That's what I have a therapist for," I said in a monotone. He didn't say anything, so I walked around him and grabbed my books. I was about to leave when I caught a glimpse of the expression on his face. He looked defeated and I knew that I was the cause for that. I rubbed my face with my hand and mustered up something else to say, "I want to let you in so badly, Brady. I'm just…" I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at his back that was facing me, "I'm scared."

He looked at me over his shoulder and turned around, "You don't have to be scared, Melody."

I bit my lip as I stared at him. I couldn't think of anything else I could say that would make things different. I was scared that he knew exactly why I was so broken that I couldn't even stand the way he was looking at me anymore. I felt like if I knew for sure that he knew what my life was like, then inside his head he'd be making judgments about me and I didn't want that. The air grew eerily quiet then, and nothing was said for a while. The only thing that helped me come back to reality was the bell that sounded from above.

"I'll see you in class," I said before I walked out of the music room and into the congested hallway. I attempted to keep my emotions in line while I traveled to my last class of the day…which I had with Brady. His name was what sent me over the edge. I practically sprinted to my seat once I reached the room before my emotions spilled out.

I sobbed as softly as I could manage and closed my eyes so I wouldn't have to see the people who I knew were staring at me. The voices around me dulled into a low buzzing noise and I could only hear my heart pounding inside of my chest now. I didn't listen as the teacher began talking, I just kept crying. I wished so much that I would eventually run out of tears so that I wouldn't have to cry anymore. Crying was never something I liked and it seemed to become more frequent after Noah died.

"For the rest of the week we will be watching a film about the bombing of Hiroshima," that was the only thing I heard.

I was grateful that I wouldn't have to pay attention today. God knows I wouldn't be paying attention even if we weren't watching a movie.

My head was pounding inside my skull as the minutes passed. I couldn't stop the flood of tears that kept coming. I've been so confused and terrified about everything that has been going on lately with me and Brady. I knew I wanted to be friends with him and it was obvious that he felt the same way. But I just kept thinking about how my whole life I've been betrayed by the ones I love. I didn't need the pain of losing someone again. I didn't deserve to go through all of that. I'm not even over my brother's death yet. How could I risk being hurt again?

Suddenly, I felt something warm grab my hand. My eyelids fluttered open and I looked down at the hand that was now intertwined with mine. I checked to be sure the teacher wasn't looking before I turned my attention back onto Brady.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he whispered so only I could hear. I didn't trust myself to say anything to him so I kept my mouth shut. He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, "I won't let you give up."

I shook my head, "You don't want to help me, Brady."

"Yes, I do," he squeezed my hand, "And I will help you. If you don't want to be friends than I could just be your shoulder to cry on or the one you come to to rant about what's bothering you. I'm whatever you want me to be."

I looked into his brown eyes and knew for certain that he was telling me the truth. I felt a small portion of the hole in my chest fill up with knowing that he wanted to help me get through this terrible time. Looking at him helped me to realize that in life you have to take risks. And right now I was ready to take one. I was ready to let down the walls I had been holding up for so long and let someone in to my life. This time I wouldn't take two steps backward. I would only move forward from here on out, but I would be doing it with Brady by my side.

"I still want to be friends," I whispered, a small grin tugging at my lips, "Just…don't be like everyone else I've ever known."

He half smiled, "I swear to you that I won't."

And I believed him. Let's just hope he doesn't turn out to be a liar…

**from here on out things are going to get better and better for the two of them i promise :)**

**so now you are free to slap and punch me all you want since i haven't updated in a while, but just so you know...violence is never the answer...**

**REVIEW!**


	14. 13 Stuck in a Garage with You

**OH GOD! D: im so sorry guys...i didn't even realize that i posted that. I was revising my chapter to Best Friends No More and accidentally posted chapter 13 to that story on this story SOOOO SOOO SOO SORRY! i posted it at 3 in the morning so i was so tired that i guess i messed it up...SORRY SORRY SORRY D:**

**anyways...**

**i know its been a while, but i've been very busy lately and haven't had the chance to update a lot. I'm mostly trying to finish up my other story Best Friends No More and get all of that done with so that i can concentrate more on this story. **

**So i'm hoping that all of you that enjoy this story are out there and are still willing to give this story a chance :)**

**i hope you like it **

Song for this Chapter- Beauty From Pain by Superchick

Chapter 13

Stuck in a Garage with You

I stared at the grocery store that Brady was parked in front of. I turned my head towards him but avoided making eye contact.

"Thanks," I said quietly.

"I'll be here at nine when your shift's over."

I shook my head in denial, "You really don't have to, Brady."

He chuckled, "Then how are you going to get home?"

"I can walk," I kind of wanted to walk. It would take a long time to get home. And maybe if Brady let me walk home then I could completely avoid being hurt today.

"I'm not going to let you walk home."

I opened the door and stepped out of the car, finally looking in his eyes, "I'll be fine," I tried to smile to reassure him.

He obviously wasn't buying it, "See you at nine," he grinned.

I rolled my eyes and closed the door, watching as his Chevelle pulled out of the parking lot before walking into the store.

Work seemed endless today. Since I was working a later shift there weren't as many people here, so I was mostly stuck behind the register doing nothing. Or if I wasn't stuck there I was stuck stocking the shelves. It left me a lot of time to think though. I was able to attempt to recover any memory of how I bandaged up my hand again. This has happened twice and both times I haven't had any clue as to how I managed to do it. Maybe I'm just really good at doing stuff in my sleep.

I laughed to myself softly enough for no one else to hear. Who am I kidding? I could never sneak back into the house, clean up my hand, wrap cloth around it, and put myself into bed while I was asleep. I think I need to visit Olivia again. Another emergency therapy session would do me some good.

I heard someone heading toward my register and straightened myself up. When I got a good glimpse at the six foot tall, russet skinned, bulky muscled teenager –if you could even call him that, he looked more like he was in his twenties- I immediately knew it had to be one of Brady's friends. Which one it was I didn't really know.

"Hello," I greeted politely.

He smiled widely at me, "Hey."

I studied his face to see if I could figure out who he was. I had seen him in school before so he had to either be Seth or Collin.

As he hauled his items onto the conveyer belt I decided to take a chance and just guess, "You're Seth Clearwater, right?"

The only thing I was going on was how happy he looked. He wouldn't stop smiling and I remember that whenever I would see him in the hall he would always be smiling, "The one and only."

I nodded as I began to scan the food he had. I eyed him as he kept on taking packages of hot dogs and hamburgers out of his cart. There had to be at least ten of each in there. Not to mention the hundreds of different kinds of chips he had.

"Planning a dinner for the army?" I asked out of curiosity.

He laughed, "You could say that. Melody, right?"

I bobbed my head up and down as I scanned more items, "How'd you guess?"

He raised his eyebrows, "Brady constantly talks about you."

I couldn't find it in me to be extremely happy about that. If he was talking to his friends about what little of my life he knew about then I would be pissed. But I keep trying to tell myself that Brady's not like that. He's a good person.

"I'm glad I finally get to meet you in person. It started to feel like Brady was just making up an imaginary friend or something."

I stopped what I was doing for a second, "Yeah, well….I don't do very well around people."

"Could've fooled me."

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, wondering what his deal was. Sure I was glad he wasn't asking me about my brother, ecstatic even. But could even Brady's friends really be different from everyone else? I didn't really believe it was possible.

Once I had finished scanning the feast that Seth had bought I bagged all of the food with his help. He didn't have to help, it wasn't his job it was mine, but he helped anyways.

"I'll see you around, Melody. It was nice finally being able to meet the famous girl Brady constantly thin- talks about."

I grinned despite his slip up, "It was nice meeting you too, Seth."

The rest of the night was fairly boring. I would constantly be looking up at the clock just to see how long it was until my shift was over with. I couldn't wait to get out of here and yet I was dreading going home. Maybe I can convince Brady to drive really slowly just so I could waste more time.

At exactly nine o'clock Brady was there waiting in his car for me. I sighed heavily as I sat down in the passenger's seat and closed the door.

"Hard day at work?"

"More like boring day at work," I got him to chuckle at that, "Your friend Seth was there and he bought a ton of food," I shook my head, "It looked like he was cooking for the whole reservation."

Brady looked at me, "It's for the bonfire we're having this weekend."

My eyebrows knitted together, "Bonfire?"

"Yeah, the whole…group has one almost every weekend," I nodded, wondering how many people was in this 'group,' "Do you want to come with me?"

I looked at him incredulously, "Me…with you?"

He laughed, "Yes, what else would I mean?"

"I don't know," I stared out the window at the darkness, wanting to say yes, but knowing that he probably had a lot of friends that would be there. I didn't know if I could deal with all of the people, "I can't," I said softly.

"Yeah you can," his voice grew a little more serious.

"Too many people will be there," I kept my eyes off of him.

He was silent for a moment, "They're good people."

I closed my eyes. I know I shouldn't be afraid, but it was too risky. If I was stronger then I'd say yes…but I'm not. I'm not strong enough to let more of my walls down yet. I still had to get used to letting Brady in.

"I know, but it's just…too soon," I felt embarrassed to say that.

"That's ok, I understand. There's always next time."

And that was it. He didn't get angry with me. He didn't say that I was being stupid and unreasonable. He just said that it was ok. I sunk into my seat, feeling the weight that I constantly carried everyday lift off of my shoulders.

The rest of the ride to my house was silent. I couldn't come up with a topic interesting enough to say out loud because I was still amazed at how calmly he reacted to what I said. I would sometimes catch him looking at me and then I would blush when he caught me doing the same thing to him. Other than that the car ride was uneventful.

When we had gotten about two blocks away from my house I began to feel uneasy, "You can stop here," I told him when he was a couple of doors down from my house.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

I nodded, "I don't want to risk anything bad happening," that probably made him feel a little suspicious.

He cut off the engine while I just stared at my house through the windshield. My heart began to speed up with the fear of what he would do if he figured out that I didn't drive myself to school.

"I'll walk you up to your house."

"What?" before I could try to protest Brady was out of his seat and heading around to my side of the car. If my heart was racing before it sure was now.

When he opened the door I spoke, "I can walk by my-,"

"I just want to be sure you're ok."

I breathed heavily as I got more and more nervous about what would happen if my dad saw Brady. I winced at the thought.

"Don't make me pick you up and carry you up to your door."

I looked at him and sighed; grabbing the hand he was holding out towards me and getting out of the car. As we got closer to the house I slowed down more and more. As soon as he realized this, Brady grabbed my hand and didn't let me walk any slower.

"It's ok," he whispered to me.

I stared at the small house that we were now in front of, "We should probably go around back," just so my dad won't see you when I open the door.

He finally listened to me. We made our way around the side of the house and into the backyard. I was about to take the first step onto the porch when I saw him. My eyes grew wide as I saw him begin to head towards the kitchen where the back door leads into.

"Oh shit," I muttered, frantically looking around for a place to hide when my eyes landed on the garage, "Brady we have to hide."

"Why?" he was completely oblivious to what I was seeing.

"He's coming into the kitchen," I tugged on his hand until he finally budged and I sprinted into the garage, with Brady following behind me. The lights were off so it was hard to see, but there was a window that let in some light so it wasn't pitch black. The bad thing about there being a window was that he could possibly see us in here.

I looked out of the window in fear as he wobbled his way down the stairs. Once he was exactly ten feet across from the garage I could clearly see that he had a shotgun in his hands. As soon as his head turned in our direction we both crouched down onto the ground.

"What is he doing with a shotgun?" I asked myself. Brady took a peek at what he was doing while I tried to come up with a reason as to why he would be out here with a shotgun. And then it hit me, "The wolf."

Brady's head shot in my direction, "What?"

I finally sat down on the ground and he copied what I was doing, sitting across from me, "There's a wolf that's been around my house lately and I'm pretty sure that my dad wants to…," I swallowed the lump in my throat, "kill it."

I really hope he's not out there tonight. I looked up at the window.

"The wolf won't get killed," he said.

"You don't know my dad."

"And you're underestimating the wolf's capabilities."

Talking to Brady about the wolf made me feel less crazy because it seemed like he knew just how smart it was. I wonder if he's seen it before…

"Come out come out wherever you are!" I heard my dad shout from outside.

I slapped my hand onto my forehead, "I'm so sorry about this, Brady. I shouldn't have gotten you caught up in this."

"It's alright," I could just barely see a hint of a smile on his face, "I don't mind being stuck in a garage with you."

Despite how nervous and scared I was of getting caught I managed to laugh at that, "You're ridiculous."

"Am I really?"

"Yes," I looked directly at him.

"That's fine, I don't mind being ridiculous."

I kept a small smile on my face the rest of the time we were stuck sitting on the dirty ground. About fifteen minutes had passed when Brady decided to check to see if he was still out there.

"He's gone."

I sighed in relief, "Thank God," I stood up and looked out into the backyard, seeing nothing but green grass, "I'm really sorry about this…"

"Don't worry about it," he turned around and took in the rest of the garage and I did the same. I felt a twinge of pain when my eyes landed on the mustang that was parked in here. My gaze faltered away from the car and then landed on something else that caused me to feel even more pain.

"What's all of that?" Brady asked.

I stared at the tools and wood that was sprawled out on the floor in the back of the garage, "It's all of my brother's stuff," my voice suddenly sounded weaker than before.

I looked over at some of the stuff that Noah had finished building that was still stuck in here. Stuff like a table and chairs and a carving he had done. Other things were still unfinished like the desk he was planning on building for me since mine was crap. Even if he did finish that I don't think I could bear to see it every day.

Bravely, I walked over to where the table he built was and lightly grazed my fingers over the top of it.

"Why is this stuck in here?" he asked from behind me.

I shrugged, "He didn't want it to get ruined," because in our house if he would've put that in the kitchen, dad probably would've thrown it us, "He wanted to own his own shop when he got out of college."

Brady nodded, "He was good," I saw him examine something that Noah had just started to work on before _it_ happened. I didn't exactly know what it was going to be since he never really got the chance to tell me. I just remember walking in here and seeing a whole new stack of wood.

_I threw my backpack down onto the ground and stared at Noah as he seemed to be working hard on sketching or something like that. _

"_What are you drawing?" _

_He muttered something to himself before answering me, "I'm not really drawing, just getting the measurements."_

_I looked over his shoulder to see what he kept writing, "What's it going to be?"_

_He held his notebook close to his chest and smiled wryly at me, "Can't tell you. It's a surprise."_

_I rolled my eyes, "Come on I really don't like surprises."_

"_Too bad," he stood up and closed the notebook, throwing it onto one of the shelves that hung on the wall. _

_I followed him over to the wood where he picked up a piece and made lines on it. I didn't try to understand what he was doing I was just annoyed that he wouldn't tell me what he was planning on building._

"_Why do you have to be so secretive? And why do you have to be so good at it?"_

_He laughed, "You ask too many questions."_

_I sat in one of the chairs he had recently built and smiled, "Jerk."_

_Both our heads snapped up as soon as we heard the back door slam. Noah grunted in frustration and immediately stopped what he was doing, "Of course he has to come outside now out of all times."_

Brady's movement caused me to jump back into reality. I watched him as he gawked at my brother's mustang.

"You said he built this from scratch?" he looked at me over the hood of the car. I nodded, "Well he really knew what he was doing."

I grinned a tiny bit, "Building was his hobby and spending time in here was his escape," without thinking about what I was doing I opened the car door and sat down in the driver's seat, placing my hands on the steering wheel.

Brady sat next to me, checking out the interior of the car.

I began to remember the first time that I had driven this car. Noah was giving me driving lessons after I got my permit and allowed me to drive this. I thought that he had gone crazy since we had just figured out how to get the thing running. I remember him taking the choker necklace I had made him out of shells I had found at the beach and putting it into the glove compartment, saying that he didn't want it to get ruined if I lost control on the road. Though I knew I wasn't bad at driving since I had a permit to prove it, I was always terrible at giving gifts and when I gave him that I was fifteen. A fifteen year old making a necklace out of shells? Something a kindergartener would do. He didn't have to say he didn't like it because I already knew he didn't, but he wore it anyways.

My eyes landed on the glove compartment, "Can you open that?" I asked Brady.

He did what I said and sure enough there was the cheaply made necklace I had given him. Noah said he lost it one day. Of course he was lying.

I laughed just thinking about that, reaching over Brady and grabbing the necklace, running my fingers over the different shells that I had used to make it.

"You like shells?"

I chuckled, "Yeah, I gave this to my brother last year. When I was younger I used to go to the beach all the time and collect the shells that were washed onto shore. I had a whole big jar full of them," the smile I was wearing on my face began to fade, "And then when I tried to show my dad my collection he just threw them all away."

I could feel Brady's penetrating eyes on me while I told him more about me. I felt like I was going to crack at any given moment or just freak out and spill my out my whole life story to him right there and then.

"I'm always talking about myself," I took my mind off of my dad and everything else that was bad, "I never asked you about you. What's your family like?" I was interested to hear what he had to say since I already knew his family was so much better than mine.

He straightened in his seat and turned towards me, "My family's just a family…an almost normal family."

I stared at him in confusion, "Almost normal? I highly doubt that."

He looked into my eyes, "It's true."

I felt like I was losing myself in his brown irises. It took all of my strength to look away from him, "Ok, well tell me more."

He half smiled and went on about his parents and his grandparents and aunts and uncles. I was fascinated by all of it because of how new it was to me. I didn't have any grandparents or aunts and uncles that I knew of. My parents had cut all ties with their families when they got married. So hearing all of this felt like someone was telling me a fictional story because to me it wasn't real.

I hung onto every word he spoke as he went on about his family and friends. He eventually began to talk about his heritage and the Quileute legends that I found to be extremely interesting. It was somewhere around when he started to talk about cold ones that we moved into the backseat of the car since there was more space back there. Eventually I had begun to drift off when he started talking about imprinting. I had finally fallen asleep when he told me about the wolf being whatever their imprint wanted them to be, whether that was a friend, a lover, or just a shoulder to cry on…

_I was surrounded by blue again. My lungs were begging for air, but I protested as I was being dragged deeper and deeper into the ocean. My eyes started to become heavy when I saw the angel dive into the water. I smiled, waiting for him to come and save me like he was supposed to. He began to swim towards me, the seconds passing slowly. My body began to shut down on me the longer I waited for him to get closer. It began to seem like he was frozen when he was only about halfway here. The more time that passed, the deeper I was being dragged down. The deeper I was being dragged down, the darker it got. _

I opened my eyes, choking on nothing but air as I woke up from the nightmare that had haunted me the night before. There was a bed of sweat on my head and I felt extremely hot. When I finally realized what the cause of all of it was I began to panic. Somehow I had managed to fall asleep in Brady's arms. In his big, huge, warm arms.

I began to shake him, "Wake up, Brady."

It took me five minutes to finally get him to let go of me and get the hell up. I wiped the sweat off of my forehead and sat up straight. I stared at him as he rubbed his eyes and yawned.

"What time is it?" I asked groggily.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket, "Shit, its three thirty."

My eyes bugged out of their sockets, "We fell asleep for that long?" ugh…

"Guess so. Damn it my parents are going to kill me."

I opened the door and stood up, feeling slightly dizzy from the heat that I was engulfed in. Brady cursed silently to himself as he got out of the car and walked over to me.

"I'm sorry about this," I blurted out as we hurried out of the garage and into my backyard. I wasn't afraid anymore since I knew that my dad was probably passed out by now. It was Brady that I was afraid for, "I hope you don't get in a lot of trouble because of me."

He stopped walking and turned in my direction, shaking his head from side to side, "You're worth it."

I was frozen in place. Before I could even blink he pressed his lips up to my forehead and entangled his fingers in my hair.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he whispered. I couldn't do anything but nod, "Be safe."

I watched the smile spread across his face as he backed away from me and walked around the side of the house. And then he was gone. He left me there to deal with my completely dumbfounded thoughts.

**hope you all liked it enough to leave a review letting me know what you think :D**

**bye bye!**


	15. 14 A Place Where You Belong

**i'm glad i got to post this chapter now :) i got inspired to write and get it on here ASAP **

**so i hope you enjoy reading it as much as i enjoyed writing it!**

Song for this Chapter- The Only Exception by Paramore

(Song used in the Chapter- A Place Where you Belong by Bullet for My Valentine)

Chapter 14

A Place Where You Belong

I woke up that morning feeling calm. After the whole incident last night with Brady I managed to safely get inside the house and go to bed without a single scratch on me. When I got inside my father was already passed out in his room and mom, well she was probably still out with her co-workers at the time. I was able to go to sleep with a smile on my face as I thought about everything that happened that night. And now I was waking up, smiling again instead of screaming. No nightmares haunted me last night, for once I slept peacefully.

I could hear my father walking around downstairs doing whatever he usually does in the morning. As I stood up from my bed I felt determined to keep this happy mood alive. I was going to get ready and get the hell out of here as fast as possible, hopefully breaking the record for how long I can go without a beating.

Changing into a pair of jeans and a random band t-shirt I found I slipped on my sweater and put my hood over my head since it was drizzling outside. I walked out of my room and towards the stairs, staring at the bottom as I prepared myself for what could possibly happen. Since I didn't feel like wasting time I figured I'd just walk to school and forget about driving. My keys were in the kitchen and I wasn't about to go and get them. That was way too risky.

I took a deep breath before I practically flew down the stairs, not even glancing at my father as I ran for the door.

"Hey!"

I froze, closing my eyes for a slight second before looking at him from over my shoulder. He glared at me pointing to something that was on the floor. My eyes set on the garbage bag full of glass bottles.

"Take out the fucking trash before this place turns into a dump!" he screamed.

I didn't make a sound as I walked closer to the bag…closer to him. I extended my arm out when I was close enough, trying to keep my distance as I picked it up.

"Time you started cleaning up around here," I clean up around here every single day, as if you would notice…

I kept my eyes on my feet as I speed walked into the kitchen and went out the back door. Quickly throwing the garbage away, I made my way around the side of the house and held my breath until I was safe and in front of the neighbor's house. I sighed in relief and kept walking at a steady pace, no longer afraid but anxious to see Brady again.

The rain felt good against my skin as it pelted down from the sky. I began to stick my tongue out to catch the raindrops because I was enjoying it so much. I did this for a while, walking and catching drops on my tongue, counting them as I caught them. It wasn't until a familiar car pulled up beside me that I stopped what I was doing and paid attention to the person that was inside.

"Having fun?" Brady asked as he smirked at me.

I shrugged, "I guess," I couldn't stop the blush that came to my cheeks.

"Get in the car before you get yourself sick."

I laughed, "Ok, mom," I was joking around on the outside, but on the inside it felt good to have someone care like that unlike my _real_ mom. As soon as he stopped the car I opened the door and got inside, resting my bag on my lap. He started to drive and I watched as we passed my house, sinking down comfortably into the seat when it was no longer in sight.

I looked over at him, wondering about everything that happened to him when he got home, "So, how much trouble did I get you in?"

He shook his head, "Actually I didn't get in any trouble."

My eyes narrowed in suspicion, "Really? How'd you pull that off?"

"Well, when I left to pick you up from work my parents had just sat down to watch a movie. And when I got home they were passed out on the couch with the DVD still in the DVD player. So I'm assuming that they fell asleep during the movie."

"Wow, talk about lucky," I chuckled.

His smile grew wider, "I know, that never happens."

My attention turned to the radio when I heard a song that I recognized playing. I turned the volume up so I could hear it better, "You like Bullet for My Valentine?"

He nodded, "You do too?"

My head bobbed to the song that was called Bittersweet Memories, "I love them," I had never met someone around here that actually liked this type of music. I could honestly Brady was the first person who didn't look at me like I was a freak when naming off bands that I liked, including this band.

I mouthed the lyrics to myself while tapping my foot to the beat. When I stole a glance at Brady I could see he was doing the same thing minus the foot tapping. He continues to amaze me…

"They're coming to Seattle soon and I was planning on getting tickets, but no one seemed to want to go," he caught me staring at him, "That is unless you would want to go with me?"

I raised my eyebrow, "Are you serious?"

He looked back at me like I was crazy, "Of course I'm serious why wouldn't I be?"

I shrugged, "Yeah, I'll go," I've wanted to go see them in concert for the longest time. Noah didn't really know who they were and Connor wasn't into that type of music, so I was never able to do it. But now Brady, the guy that I'm becoming more and more fond of with every passing minute, was asking me to go. I couldn't tell you how good I felt at that moment.

The song had come to an end and then another song started. The smile that was on my face slightly faded when I began to recognize what song it was...A Place Where You Belong.

"Uh, we can skip this song if you want," Brady said beside me.

I bit the inside of my lip, "No, it's fine, keep it on."

Brady didn't say anything more as the music kept playing. I crossed my arms and ignored the slight pain the lyrics caused me to feel. The reasoning for the pain was because the song was about death and losing a loved one to...ugh I can't even think about it. Let's just say that hit close to home for me and I wished that I could cover my ears to drown the music out. But then again, I wanted to be strong. I wanted to face the pain head on. So, I listened to it.

When we reached the school the song was nearly over. I stepped out of the car when Brady turned the ignition off and began walking towards the school with him right by my side. But the lyrics stuck with me as I walked.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

_Your body's cold, hope is lost, I can't let go_

I swallowed the lump that was stuck in my throat and nodded, "I'll be fine."

_Too late, too late  
I never said goodbye_

When I reached my locker I quickly put in my combination, trying to get the song out of my head. I didn't say anything to Brady as he leaned casually up against the locker next to mine, waiting for me to get all of my books.

_Too late, too late  
Can't even ask you why  
and now I'm wasting away in my own misery  
I hope you're finally gone to a place where you belong_

UGH! Shut up!

I slammed my locker shut and groaned.

"Want me to sing you a different song?" Brady suggested.

He would know what's bothering me. I bet he can read my mind. I looked up at him as his frame towered over me. I smiled despite how annoyed I felt, "No, I'm pretty sure that wouldn't do any good. Thanks though."

He shrugged, "Just trying to help."

We were about to head for our first class together when suddenly Connor stopped us, "Someone's birthday is tomorrow!" he shouted and practically everyone in the hallway could hear.

I turned around and slapped his arm, "You need to be quieter! No one cares about crap like that," especially not me. To be honest, I didn't even realize tomorrow was my birthday until he said that.

"You never told me about this," Brady said, looking extremely surprised.

I sighed, "Guess it slipped my mind."

"Your surprise will be waiting for you by your locker tomorrow," Connor wouldn't stop smiling.

"I don't like surprises," I stuck my tongue out at him as we began to walk in the direction of our physics class.

"I know," he began to walk in the other direction, "I just love watching you pretend to act pissed off," and then he was gone. He left me here to think about that day that always comes around once a year. The day that I always dread.

"I guess I have to find you a present now."

I shook my head, "No you really don't."

"Oh come on, you're going to be a year older tomorrow. You should be excited," he nudged me with his elbow.

I never got excited for my birthday. At my house, birthdays were always forgotten. I've never had a party or a cake and they've never given me presents or at least said a quick happy birthday to me. The only one that ever did that at my house was Noah.

Once we were in the classroom and sitting in our usual seats I let the song overtake my thoughts again.

_I wish I died on that night right by your side  
so just kill me now and let the good times roll_

For the rest of the day that song was all I could think about. At lunch I would talk to Brady and Connor, but even then I felt like my mind was in a totally different place. As the day dragged on and the last class rolled along I found myself unable to think about anything but Noah and that song. About halfway through the class I pulled out my journal. The teacher would probably think I was just taking notes, but I couldn't even tell you what she was talking about right now. I wasn't paying attention at all.

_Noah,_

_This song reminds me too much of what happened. It reminds me too much of how I feel. It's too late now, I didn't get to say goodbye to you. I can't ask you why this happened. I can't erase the sadness I feel whenever I think about that day. I'm wasting away in misery, hoping that you're in a place where you belong. Wasting away in misery…scratch that. It's not entirely that bad. Brady has been here for me. He makes me feel happy, like I'm going to get through this. I was wasting away in misery, but he's saving me. He's turning things around and for once I feel like I'm doing something right. I feel like I belong here as long as I have him. _

_I still wonder though, will you wait for me? Will I see you on the other side…if there is another side? Will you comfort me? I never said goodbye and I can't ask you why this happened, why you're gone. But I hope you're in a place where you belong. A place where I can belong someday…_

_I just had to get this song out of my head somehow and this seemed like the best way. _

_Melody_

I looked up at the clock, noticing that only about four minutes were left of class. I looked over at Brady who was sitting next to me and this time I was the one who caught him staring at me.

"Meet me at my locker after class," I whispered to him, raising my hand. I couldn't sit in here anymore. I was desperate to get out and just think without the teacher's annoying voice ringing in my ear.

The teacher acknowledged me and I asked if I could go to the bathroom. She said she didn't understand why I couldn't just wait but she let me go anyways. I breathed heavily when I stepped outside into the hall. I didn't go to the bathroom I just roamed aimlessly in an attempt to clear my head.

I walked over to the water fountain at the end of the hallway and drank some water, staring at the wall for a minute when I was finished.

That's when I heard him, Ethan Reyes. I didn't pay attention to him since I figured he would just walk past me and say nothing at all, but he had something else in mind. Ethan was a year older than me. He and my brother never got along and that's only because my brother beat the shit right out of him. It didn't happen in school, it happened at a party. Let's just say, he tried to do some things to me that I didn't appreciate. Some very disgusting, inappropriate things. He hated my brother ever since then because no girls would ever come near him after that. He used to be considered popular but now he was just considered a sleazy pervert and he blamed Noah for that.

He stopped walking right next to me, "Hey," he said in a voice that had me cringing.

I ignored him and began to move in the direction of my locker where Brady would be soon…I hoped. I could hear his footsteps behind me.

"Where are you going freak?" I flinched but kept moving, "Trying to run away from me since your brother isn't here to protect you, huh? Well running isn't going to help you."

He grabbed my wrist from behind and spun me around in his direction, "Don't touch me!" I shouted, trying to pull my hand out of his grip but failing miserably.

"What are you going to do?" he smirked, his eyes becoming more menacing the longer I looked at them, "Are you going to shoot me?"

I yanked my arm as hard as I could finally being able to get away from him. I tried to act as if his words meant nothing to me as I went to my locker to get my books. The reality of it all was, his words hurt more than anything. The bell rang and I took it as my cue to get the hell out of here, but he pinned me up against the wall.

His face was inches from mine, "Better yet, why don't you just go and shoot yourself instead. Go and visit your pathetic excuse for a brother in hell since you're nothing but a worthless little piece of shit."

I closed my eyes, trying to fight back the tears and taking each hit that came to me.

"You're not important, no one would miss you so just do it already."

I wanted to punch him in the face, but we were in the worst place possible for that. I was trying to do well in school and if I actually punched him then that would only set me back. My lips quivered in fear and he must've noticed because the next thing I knew he was stepping away from me, obviously satisfied with what he did.

"Go to hell, freak," he spat at me.

The next thing I knew someone's fist collided with the side of Ethan's face, causing him to topple over onto the ground. It all happened so quickly that I'm sure if I blinked then I would've missed it. I watched as Brady grabbed him by the collar and pounded him against the lockers. A crowd of students was already swarming around the area and out of the corner of my eye I noticed Collin and Seth stepping in, trying to pull Brady off of Ethan, but Brady wouldn't budge.

Brady's fist met Ethan's jaw, "If you so much as look at her the wrong way I will break every fucking bone in your body!" He screamed, his voice trembling along with the rest of his body, "Stay away from her!"

You could clearly see the fear in Ethan's eyes when he said those words to him. And though I know he deserved everything he was getting and I hated him, I began to get scared right along with him. I had never seen Brady this angry before and it truly freaked the hell out of me.

It didn't take long for the principal to figure out what happened. After he got involved, everyone cleared out fast and Brady finally let go of Ethan. I kept my eyes on my feet as they all walked away to go to the principal's office.

I really didn't know what possessed me to stay there and wait but I did. I sat outside on the steps and waited. Sure, Brady was my ride but I know I could've walked. I guess I just didn't feel like going back home where everything seemed bad. Or maybe I'm just too freaked out and shaken up by what happened. I never saw Brady as a bad person. Until today, Brady always seemed like the type of guy who tried to stay away from violence. I guess I was wrong about that. The scene played over and over again inside my head. Brady's eyes had no trace of warmth in them. All of that was gone when he was looking at Ethan. And when he actually hit Ethan, it brought me back to a time when I watched my dad do the same exact thing to Noah. I no longer saw my friend I saw…my father.

The back door flew open and out he walked, looking surprised to see me.

"I didn't think you would still be here."

I kept my mouth shut, not exactly knowing what I could say my reason for staying here was. All I knew was that I didn't want to even think about Brady being like my father. Brady wasn't like him _at all_. He was trying to protect me, trying to shut up the jerk that was harassing me. He had a reason to do what he did. Even though he didn't have to do that for me, he did. So no, he's not even close to my dad. That didn't mean I liked what he did any better. It didn't mean I wasn't afraid.

Brady sat right next to me and ran his hands through his short hair. I scooted farther away from him to the other edge of the step we were sitting on. He sighed heavily when he saw me move.

"Say something," he said softly.

I didn't. Instead, I stood up and began to walk away with him following right behind me. Two long strides later, he was standing in front of me. I stopped and made sure that I kept my eyes off of him.

He touched my arm but I cringed away from him in fear.

"Please, you don't have to be afraid of me," I stepped to the side and walked around him, "Don't do this, Mel," he followed me again, "Don't shut me out. Just talk to me."

I did, "There's nothing to talk about."

He didn't believe me, "I saw how scared you were and I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that to you. I would never intentionally try to scare you," I didn't respond so seeing this, he walked in front of me again, "Just let me drive you home. At least let me do that."

"I'd rather walk," I said.

"Then I'll walk with you."

I grunted in frustration, "I want to walk alone."

"Please, Mel," he pleaded.

I made a mistake by looking into his eyes because when I did I felt myself begin to spill my guts. I hated that he had the power to do this to me, "You scared the shit out of me, Brady. You just looked so mad and I was afraid of you," I looked him up and down for a moment, "I thought you would…hurt me."

He placed his palms on either of my cheeks, "I would never hurt you, Melody. It was him I was mad at, not you."

I closed my eyes, recalling everything Ethan had said to me. I began to wonder if he heard all of it, "Did you hear everything he said?"

He nodded and I felt my heart collapse, "He's just an asshole that knows nothing about respect. What he said to you? It doesn't mean anything. Just forget about all of it."

"Easier said than done," I replied, "Everything he said shouldn't have an effect on me because he doesn't matter, but when people say things like that it just sticks with you. The words still hurt even if they don't mean anything. He said it and I heard it. And that's that," I paused, trying to regain my strength to say more. I was thankful for the rain, it disguised all of the tears that I was shedding, "And maybe he's even right. Maybe I am a worthless piece of shit."

Brady scoffed at me, grazing his thumb lightly over my cheekbone, "He's not right. You're not worthless, Melody. You know what you are? You want to know what you really are?"

I looked at him curiously, "What?"

The smile that took my breath away appeared on his face at that moment, "You're amazing…beautiful. You're the most real girl I've ever met, the best thing that's ever happened to me, the girl of my dreams. You're everything, Melody."

If my face wasn't red before it sure was now. I couldn't make eye contact with him as I got more and more self conscious the longer he stared at me for.

"What else do I need to say to you to convince you that what he said was all a lie?"

I grabbed both of his hands and took them off my face, keeping my fingers interlaced with his, "Well first you're going to have to make sure you never do anything like that again, at least not while I'm around," he chuckled, "And second, you need to pinch me every couple of minutes."

His eyebrows furrowed, "Why?"

I sighed, beginning to walk with my hand still holding onto his warm one, "Because I need to know that this isn't a dream."

He rolled his eyes and shook his head. Suddenly, he placed a soft kiss onto my temple, causing my head to spin, "You're not dreaming."

I tried to find my voice to say something back to him, "I hope," because if I am, then I don't think I want to wake up.

He didn't try to reason with me anymore about it. We just walked back to the school parking lot and got into Brady's truck in a comfortable silence.

"So, where to?" he asked as he started up the engine.

"What do you mean?"

He smiled, "I mean where do you want to go? Home? The beach?"

I knew the answer to that definitely wasn't going to be home. I could live without going home for a while. Besides, no one would care if I was home or not.

"I don't know, where do you want to go?"

He shrugged, "I'm feeling kind of…hungry," he said sheepishly.

I chuckled, "Yeah, all that fighting probably made you hungry."

"Probably."

I noticed that he began to drive in the direction of Port Angeles. I didn't care where we were going, just as long as I'm with him it doesn't matter to me.

The whole ride there we listened to Bullet for My Valentine, mouthing the lyrics with each other and just enjoying ourselves. At some point I had asked him what the punishment was for the fight and he told me that he had detention for two weeks, but other than that we just concentrated on having fun, kicking out all of the seriousness after that.

When we pulled up to the diner that we had gone to when we worked on our physics project together I found myself smirking at his choice.

"What's that look for?"

I stifled a laugh, "No reason, I just didn't know you liked this place so much," it was a really cheesy looking fifties themed place. The only reason I was laughing was because of how much of a fantasy this seemed like. I only saw places like this in movies and stuff, never I real life. But that could be because I never really got out much until now.

"I like their food, so sue me," he quickly got out of the car and headed over to my side, opening the door for me.

I stepped out of the truck and accepted the hand he was holding out to me, feeling like a normal teenager for once. A normal teenager who was hanging out with the most amazing guy she's ever met.

We sat in a booth towards the back of the place, both of us getting an order of fries and a chocolate milkshake. While waiting for our food we talked on and on about nothing but complete nonsense. Then somehow we started asking each other questions, the topic being favorites. And we asked about everything possible like favorite type of food, favorite color, favorite animal, favorite band. You name it, we asked it.

We kept talking like this for what seemed like hours. I felt like I was on at an ultimate high. That is until I saw Logan and Cynthia walk in. That's when I could no longer concentrate on talking about pointless things.

My eyes were glued to them as they started to head towards us. I began to sink down into the booth, hoping that they wouldn't see me. But of course, they did. And as soon as they saw me they both stop walking and headed for somewhere to sit that was farther away from me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Brady follow my eyes to see what I was looking at and I turned my attention back on him, knowing exactly what he was going to ask me.

"Do you have a problem with them or something?" he asked, putting a fry in his mouth.

I stirred my shake with the straw and watching as the chocolate syrup mixed with the milk, "One of them," I said, looking over at Logan who, I now realized, was staring at me.

"Do you want to leave?"

I shook my head in denial. I wasn't about to let_ him_ ruin this even though he seems to ruin everything else. But I did let his presence affect me. I did wonder why he was here out of all places when I was here too. Why couldn't I just forget about him? Why did he have to keep sticking around?

I hated him for what he did. He's just...scum, nothing more nothing less.

Once we were finished with our food we slapped some money on the table and decided to start heading home since it was getting dark outside. I would've protested if it was any other time, saying we should just stay here and talk some more. But he was here and the less time I have to see him the less time I have to think about what he did.

I kept my head down when we got closer to the table they were sitting at. Over and over again I pleaded that he would just stay where he was and not get up to say something to me, but that's exactly what he did.

"Hey Melody," Logan glared at Brady for a slight second before setting his eyes back on me, "I was hoping that-,"

"No," I cut him off.

He sighed in frustration, "Just let me talk to you," he said, a little more annoyed now.

"Talk? You want to talk? I don't think it's me you need to talk to. Maybe the one you want to talk to but not the one you need to talk to," I began to back away from him and closer to the only person I felt safe around anymore, "The person you really need to talk to is dead now," I hid the pain, "So, enjoy the guilt, Logan. Enjoy that feeling when you talk to his grave."

Brady held the door open for me and I walked silently out of the diner, not knowing where any of that strength came from. I never would've believed that I could say something like that to Logan, not this soon. It hurt, but not nearly as bad as I thought it would.

"Are you alright?"

I looked at Brady's face, realizing it was him who gave me the strength. It was him being there that made me feel like I could say that to Logan, "Yeah, I'm alright," I let out a deep breath, leaning up against the window to the store that we were now in front of.

I saw concern flit across his face for a second before his expression became more serious, "What did he do, Mel?"

I knew this was going to happen. It was my own fault. I had to think about how I was going to say this, I had to do it carefully so that I didn't hurt myself more than I wanted to. But it was Brady I was talking to, so it didn't take me long to figure it all out.

"Well, the day before my brother died Logan said some things to him," I crossed my arms and concentrated on that night, "I don't exactly remember what happened before they pulled up in front of the house. All I know is that I heard shouting outside and I was out the door in two seconds. They both looked extremely pissed off at each other and obviously didn't know I was there or else I'm sure they would've stopped yelling at each other," I paused, trying to remember what happened next, "All I know is that Logan had done something really bad, something that included drugs. I'm not exactly sure, but I know it had something to do with drugs. And I guess Noah had caught him in the act of using these drugs," I took a deep breath, "So, Noah started screaming at Logan saying that he was screwing up his life by doing this and of course Logan wasn't having any of that. Next thing I knew he started spitting insults at my brother asking him why he even cared."

The next part was going to be hard to say. I knew I couldn't stop there, though, "I remember exactly everything he said next," Brady grabbed my hand and squeezed it in reassurance, "He said, 'Your life is already screwed up enough for the both of us, so why does it matter if I screw up mine anymore?'" I gripped is hand harder, "Then it was, 'You're full of shit Noah. Why don't you just stop complaining about your life already and end it. No one would miss you, especially not me. Actually, I'd like to have a break from your constant nagging.'"

My mouth clamped shut as soon as the words left my mouth. I felt the sobs make their way up my throat, threatening to come out and make me feel weak again. I didn't want to feel weak, but just thinking about that night made me feel like there was no other option anymore. The strength was leaving my system for the time being.

"And then he…he," I wanted to get it out already. I wanted somebody to know, I wanted them to comfort me and say that everything was going to be alright.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Brady said.

I shook my head, swallowing down the fear, "I have to," I felt the words on the tip of my tongue, getting closer to my lips and closer to being out in the open. I felt a sudden force push them out of me, "He killed himself."

I waited for the gasp to come out of his mouth. I waited for him to run away and say that my brother was sick for doing what he did. I waited for him to react the way I expected him to. I kept waiting, but it never happened. He kept quiet, absorbing all of this.

And there was silence. And I was grateful for that silence. Because I didn't want him to say he was sorry and I didn't want him to tell me what he was thinking right now.

Without warning, he pulled me into a tight embrace and held me close to him. I wrapped my arms around him and finally let the sobs have their way, crying into his chest.

All I wanted was to feel his warm arms around me, protecting me from the cruel world I lived in, keeping me safe from everything that was bad. And for once, I got what I wanted.

**this chapter turned out to be really long. In order to fit everything i wanted to fit in there i had to make it long. At first i wasn't sure if i wanted Melody to say that about her brother in the end but then i realized that it fit. SO i did it...and i want to know, did you know that's how he died? Or were you shocked by that? let me know in your review!**

**and i know a lot of you are probably thinking how could Noah do that to Melody? WELL not even Melody knows why so you won't know that until later on in the story**

**AND if you think what the guy harassing Melody (Ethan) said to her was harsh then just know that there are people in the world that will say something as cruel, if not more cruel, than this to people thinking that it is funny when the person this is being said to takes it to heart. So please, THINK before you ACT (i'm not accusing any of my readers of doing this, i'm just saying this in general). Because people might take things like that seriously. A couple of days ago a girl my age that my cousin knew killed herself because of a situation similar to this. So please think about what you're really doing when you say things like this. **

**ok now that i'm done with that i hope everyone will check out the song used in this chapter (A Place Where You Belong by Bullet For My Valentine) cause its a great song by a great band :)**

**one more suggestion! yesterday i started reading this book called Thirteen Reasons Why and it was amazing! i could not put it down and i actually finished in one whole day. So if any of you are looking for a book suggestion then check that one out! :D**

**i will leave you to it then...review!**

**~KK**


	16. 15 Birthday Stuff

**i'm sorry that i haven't updated in so long D: i have been really busy lately with school and trying to figure out where i'm going to college and stuff like that**

**but i made up for it by making this update really long :)**

**hope you like it**

Song for this Chapter- Fool With Dreams by Framing Hanley (was randomly listening to this while writing this chapter and thought it fit well)

Chapter 15

Birthday Stuff

My eyes stayed glued to the ceiling while my mind went over the nightmare again. It was longer than usual this time and so much worse. This time I saw him killing himself before I was drowning. And the angel still wouldn't save me. But I came to the realization that the more I had this nightmare, the closer the angel would get.

I knew that I had to talk to Olivia about it or else it was just going to keep eating away at me. But today, that would have to wait. I don't know why I felt the need to postpone this until tomorrow. It's not like anything special was going to happen today. I know that my parents aren't going to regain any memory of what happened today, seventeen years ago. They wish it never would've happened in the first place.

And sometimes, I wish it never happened either.

I closed my eyes and thought of him. I thought about how Noah's always tried to make this one day special for me when no one else wanted to. I thought about how he wasn't here this year to put one more candle on the cake that he always bought from the bakery in Forks. It was always the same kind of cake too, vanilla with raspberry filling and chocolate frosting. I could practically taste the cake in my mouth.

I turned my head and looked out the window at the grey clouds that hung in the sky. I could hear him singing happy birthday to me –off key of course- in my ear as he lit the candles with the blue lighter he always kept in his back pocket, waiting until he was done with the song to add another candle and light that one. And I missed it, so much.

When I felt my eyes begin to get damp, I got up from my bed and forced myself to think about something completely different. I exhaled the pain and began to get ready for school. Though I was dreading having to go downstairs and see him, I was hoping that it would be just like yesterday or even better than yesterday. Then maybe I can actually get through the day feeling just a little bit special.

I walked out of my room and headed down the hall towards the stairs. Usually I would just glance at Noah's door and be done, feeling that I had my fix of that for the day. But for some stupid reason, I didn't glance; I full out stopped and stared. And I felt the need to open the door.

Slowly, my body moved closer to his door without my brain's permission. My eyes traveled all the way down to the knob. I kept my gaze on it and grabbed it when I was close enough, turning it until the door was slightly ajar. When I felt that I was ready, I opened my eyes and looked in. I could see nothing but the shape of his bed and dresser because the lights were off and I definitely wasn't about to turn them on. His scent hit me hard and it soon became the only thing I could smell. I felt my mind drift to the days when I had to wake my brother up for school before he made us both late.

Before I could slam the door shut and run from the memories, I heard someone cough behind me and froze in place.

I didn't dare to look at his face, fearing that he would smack me right on the spot. But it was stupid of me to think that just standing here would prevent him from hurting me.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" his voice was low and harsh.

I closed the door and slowly rested my shaking hand by my side, "N-Nothing," I kept my eyes on the floor as I waited for the first phase of pain he was going to bring upon me.

"Nothing?" he spit in my face and I flinched. And then he grabbed a fistful of my hair and threw me onto the floor. I stayed there, unmoving and listened to the words he screamed at me, "You trying to tell me that you were doing nothing?" I rose up onto my elbows. As soon as my eyes landed on his face I saw him pull his fist back before it met my eye and I was back on the floor again, "I'll tell you what you were doing!" he kicked me in the stomach a couple of times, "You were poking your nose into a problem that is dealt with!"

Is that what he thought of Noah as? A problem that was dealt with?

I tried to regain my breath when he was finished with me. Or at least I thought he was finished with me.

"Keep your nose where it belongs!" I knew that he wasn't drunk yet by the way his voice was more composed than usual. So he had to know what he was saying. He had to know that he just called his dead son a problem. And I can only imagine what he thinks of me.

"Stupid little bitch," he muttered before he kicked my leg a few times and left.

I waited until the pain set in to try and stand up. And after nearly falling over about four times I was able to make it into my room and onto my bed before the throbbing began. I clutched my stomach and kept my right eye shut, not even caring about how much or how little it helped me. All I knew was that I was going to be late for school if I didn't recover soon. And if I wanted to avoid his wrath I would have to go.

Out of nowhere I heard my phone begin to vibrate. My left eye followed the source of the sound and I picked it up off of the side table next to my bed, wincing here and there. I looked at the screen and sighed. One new text message…from Brady.

Biting my lip I flipped open my phone and blinked at the screen as I read the text, **Need a ride to school?**

I swallowed the saliva that was building up in the back of my throat and answered him the best way I could, **No…I'm going to be late. **

I wanted to desperately get ice for my eye, but when he was down there I knew that that wasn't going to be possible.

My phone vibrated in my lap, **Are you alright?**

I choked on the sobs that were finding their way out of my system, **Yeah, I'm fine. **

Well, now that I've established that I'm going to be late I'm going to have to try and make myself feel better or else it will just leave me with another mess to clean up. I could already tell what a great day this was going to be.

Happy seventeenth birthday to me…

* * *

I checked the side view mirror of my truck one more time to be sure the bruise around my eye was covered by the makeup I had put on it earlier. You could still see that it was a little purple and swollen, but other than that I had covered it up pretty well. I made sure that I had the cover-up in my purse before I limped my way into school.

As soon as I stepped foot into the office I bit through the sore feeling and stood up straight so that they wouldn't begin to ask me a lot of questions. I told them the lie I had come up with this morning -that I fell down the stairs- and thankfully they gave me a pass to get into class.

Now I was going to face the hard part.

I took a deep breath when I was standing outside the door of my physics class and slowly opened the door. It felt so much like the day that I came back after Noah died. Everyone's eyes were on me, pinpointing to my swollen eye. Mr. Snyder stopped talking and was doing a double take. And Brady…well let's just say he didn't look like he was exactly happy. He looked like someone had just kicked him in the gut when he saw me. I wonder if that's how I looked this morning.

I handed my pass to Mr. Snyder and with the wave of his hand I began to wobble over to my desk, making sure not to look at anyone on the way there. I hissed in pain when I sat down, keeping my face hidden behind my hair so no one could see my eye.

It seemed to take forever for Mr. Snyder to start talking again and when he finally did start talking people still stared. Paying no attention to their eyes that were on me, I raised my head ever so slightly to get a good look at Brady who seemed to be shaking in his seat. And it was exactly how he was shaking yesterday when he got mad at Ethan. But why would he be mad now? I mean he doesn't know. He can't possibly know…

I waited until he finally looked back at me to determine if he was mad or not. And when I saw his face, all I could see was…pain. Like he felt exactly what I was feeling. Emotional and physical pain. And I saw absolutely no trace of anger. I wrapped my arm around my stomach when it began to throb and caught Brady's lips pull down in a grimace.

I instantly knew that after class was over with, he would want to know what happened. And I would have to lie again. Though I don't want to lie to him anymore, I have to. Last night I just told him that my brother had killed himself. I think that telling him that was enough for now. Telling him about my life at home was going to have to wait. Who knows what he would do after I told him that.

After everyone eventually got bored of staring at me, I kept my eyes on the clock, tapping my feet on the floor because my nerves were getting the best of me. I went over what I would say to him in my head as the minutes ticked by and when the bell finally rang, I didn't stand up right away. I waited until he walked over to my desk to do that.

"Are you ok?" he asked gently.

I grabbed both ends of the desk and slowly rose up from my seat, avoiding eye contact with him, "Never been better," I said through gritted teeth.

He grabbed my forearm and helped me walk out of the classroom. Once we were in the hallway he wrapped his arm firmly around my waist to keep me from falling over, "What happened?" he whispered.

I tried not to pay attention to all of the people that we passed because all every one of them seemed to do was glare at me. All of them had the same 'what the hell does he see in her?' look on their faces too. I couldn't stand seeing any of these people anymore.

"I…I fell down the stairs this morning," I heard a couple people scoff behind me as we passed them.

Brady growled. I couldn't really figure out if he was growling at what I said or the people that were scoffing, though, "And you hit your eye?"

"Yeah," I said, "I hit it on the railing."

His arm seemed to tighten protectively around me, "I should've been there to stop it," I heard him mumble, though I'm sure he didn't mean for me to actually hear that.

"Brady, there was no way you could've stopped it from happening. So I have a couple of bruises on my," I was cut off by the feeling of his skin vibrating. Damn, I probably shouldn't have told him about the bruises. We stopped walking and in an attempt to reassure him I said, "I'm ok…really I'm fine."

He didn't listen to me and the shaking only seemed to get worse.

"Brady," I whispered to him, watching as more and more people began to notice the angry look he had in his eyes, "Please stop," I said a little louder.

He looked at my face and took a couple deep breaths, "I'm sorry," the quivering suddenly subsided, "I don't mean to be angry."

"It's alright," I smiled in an attempt to keep the atmosphere positive. I leaned into his side a little more as we began to walk again, "Let's just try to get to class before the bell rings."

It seemed that about three seconds after I said that the bell was going off above our heads. Both of us froze and looked at each other for a moment before we started laughing.

"Maybe we should just aim for getting there without anyone noticing we're late," Brady said in between laughs.

I shook my head and tried to catch my breath, "That sounds like a good idea."

"I almost forgot to tell you," he whispered to me, "Happy birthday, Melody."

I grinned, "Thank you," at least I would hear that a couple of times today.

When we finally reached the door to my class Brady helped me into my seat and the teacher excused us both for our tardiness when he noticed the condition that I was in. He gave Brady a pass so that he could get into his own class without any trouble and I was left there alone to think about the "special" day ahead of me.

* * *

"Happy birthday!" a very cheery Seth Clearwater greeted me when I walked into the cafeteria.

I looked up at Brady in suspicion, "You told him?"

He opened his mouth to answer me but then Collin interrupted him by, you guessed it, wishing me another happy birthday.

"I didn't tell them," he said, his voice sounding annoyed, "They're just nosy bastards," he shoved Collin.

"We're not nosy, they're your thou-," Collin stopped mid-word.

I looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to finish what he was going to say, but before I could get a response Brady was pulling me in the direction of the lunch line. I glanced at Brady's friends over my shoulder and watched as they both sat down on either side of Connor who didn't seem to mind. Maybe he already knew they were going to sit there. But it's funny; he was never that accepting of Brady.

I sighed as I stared at the food that was spread out in front of me. None of it looked appealing to me, nothing but the sad little apple that was being overlooked by everyone. I picked up the lonely apple and put it onto my tray, figuring that it would only upset my stomach a little bit.

"You have to eat something more than that."

I shook my head, "Trust me Brady, I'm _not _hungry today," I looked at him sternly.

He nodded, "I'll pay for your…apple," he sounded less than pleased that I was barely eating anything. For once I wasn't lying to him, though, I really wasn't hungry. My stomach felt like it was tied in knots at the moment, "So, I was thinking that maybe after school we could do some birthday stuff?" he paid the lunch lady for both of our food.

My stomach began to churn as we headed back for our table, "What did you have in mind?"

Brady smirked, "It's a surprise."

I kept my eyes on his smug expression as we sat down next to each other with Seth, Collin, and Connor chatting beside us.

"I really don't like surprises."

He looked into my eyes and it suddenly felt as if everyone disappeared around us, "Well, I'm hoping that I can change your mind about that. So, how about it?"

I bit on the inside of my lip as my stomach began to feel worse. Swallowing the uncomfortable feeling I answered him, "Ok, I'll go."

He smiled for a moment, but the longer he looked at me for the more that smile faded away, "Are you feeling ok? You look kind of pale."

My eyes focused on the apple that was sitting on my tray. I picked it up in my hand and took a huge bite out of it in hopes that my stomach would settle for the time being. Brady placed the back of his hand on my cheek and it caused me to feel dizzy. The heat was definitely not helping me. In fact, it only made me start to feel sweaty and nauseous.

"Hey Mel, did you get my present yet?" Connor asked from across the table.

I found it hard to raise my head and look at him, "I-," as soon as I opened my mouth I regretted it. I started to feel something slowly make its way up my throat. When Brady finally took his hand off of my face and I clamped my mouth shut to try and make it stop.

"Mel?"

Everyone was now staring at me with wide eyes.

"I'm going to be sick," I managed to spit it out before I shot up out of my seat and covered my mouth with my hand. I barely made it to the garbage can before I puked my guts out.

I heard laughter erupt throughout the whole cafeteria as everyone realized what was wrong with me. I threw up everything until there was nothing left inside of my stomach. People were now chanting "loser" all around me. Feeling embarrassed, I kept my head inside the garbage can just so I wouldn't see everyone's taunting faces ridicule me more.

I flinched when I felt Brady's warm hand on the back of my neck as he grabbed my hair and held it away from my face.

"Shut up!" I heard him scream in an extremely threatening voice. And it suddenly seemed like everyone actually listened to him.

"Are they still staring?" my voice sounded hoarse.

He paused before speaking, "Not anymore," he snarled.

I slowly raised my head, my eyes immediately setting on the wall just in case he was lying to me. When I tried to stand up straight I felt unbalanced and Brady had to hold me up so that I wouldn't fall.

"I'm taking you to the nurse."

I didn't protest as he practically dragged me all the way to the nurse's office. She didn't do much to me, but I knew that was because I pretty much screamed at her when she told me that she was going to call my parents so they could come and pick me up. Brady helped me without questioning my behavior by saying that he would take me home and call my parents for her. And for some crazy reason, she actually listened to him.

So, here I was, walking out of the nurse's office with Brady and going home where _he _would be. God, if only I didn't throw up…

"Gum?" Brady smiled as he held out a piece for me to take.

I took it and welcomed the minty flavor in my mouth, "How did you manage to get the nurse to let you go home?"

He chuckled, "I used my charm."

Rolling my eyes I walked over to my locker and put in the combination, pulling out the present that I had expected would be in there. I scanned over the book of Bach compositions and smiled.

"Who's that from?" Brady asked.

I flipped through the pages, staring at the black notes that covered the white paper, "Connor. He knows how much I love Bach."

I grabbed my backpack and everything else I felt I needed to take home, "I'll have to keep that in mind for your next birthday," I couldn't help but give in to the smile that was playing at my lips. The soreness of the bruises was replaced with the good feeling of knowing that he was planning on being around for that long.

"You don't have to buy me gifts you know," I shut my locker and looked at his handsome face, "Just you being here is enough for me," I admitted.

He seemed a little shocked by my words but grinned back at me anyways, "That's good to know," he took a step closer to me, "but if I want to buy you gifts, I'll buy you gifts," he ducked his head until his eyes were level with mine, "and you can't stop me."

I tried not to let his intense gaze affect me, "I-I can try," why did I have to stutter?

He laughed and pulled away from me, "Let's get out of here."

Before I could try to take a step forward, Brady grabbed my backpack out of my hands and scooped me up into his arms, "What are you doing?"

"Carrying you."

I felt my heart begin to race inside of my chest, "I can walk."

"No, you can limp," he said, "and I'm not going to just stand aside and let you hurt yourself more."

I had to admit that he was right. Though I think the only reason why I thought he was right was because I felt like being in his arms like this was how it was supposed to be. I felt so safe with him all the time that I didn't want this sort of physical contact to ever end.

When we reached my truck I clutched to his neck tighter, "Please don't take me home," my thoughts came out of my mouth in a low whisper.

He pressed his lips to my forehead, "Don't worry, I wasn't planning on it."

Brady's grip on me tightened for a moment before he managed to open the door and slip me into my seat with no problem at all. He walked around to the other side and pulled the keys out of my backpack before getting in the truck and starting up the engine.

"Are you still up for birthday stuff?"

I nodded, "I'm up for anything."

Brady looked at me seriously, "Are you sure? I mean I'm not going to take you bungee jumping or something extreme like that but still, do you think you can handle standing for a little while?"

I chuckled at his question, "Well if I fall you'll catch me, right?"

His lips twitched up into a slight smile, "Always."

* * *

We had somehow ended up at the far east side of the beach, where the high tide was coming in. I could honestly admit that I had never been over here before and I was glad to be here with Brady out of all people. He had practically carried all of my weight as we both walked in the sand barefoot.

"So, what were you planning on doing here?" I looked at the blanket that he was carrying that he had taken out of the back of my truck and my backpack that was slung over his shoulder.

"Hold on we're almost at the spot," he kept his eyes on the destination we were heading for.

All I really saw was a bunch of sharp rocks and some vicious looking waves. I really started to wonder why he would bring me over here. Scanning the whole beach I realized that we were really the only ones here. Everyone else was either at work or still in school or they were turned off by the dark grey sky.

"There's a full moon tonight which means the tides are going to be extremely high today."

He dropped the blanket and my bag on the ground. I couldn't wrap my head around why he would want to bring my bag with let alone the blanket.

"Seriously Brady, what are we doing?" I asked, my patience running thin.

He intertwined his hand with mine, "I'll show you," we slowly made our way over to the water and stopped just so that our feet would get wet. I watched as he reached down and dug through the sand until he picked out a huge gastropod. He held up the shell so that I could see it and I immediately understood, "You said you used to collect shells when you were little and your dad threw out your collection. So I thought we could make a new one."

I tried to stop my cheeks from turning red but it was no use, he had to go and amaze me like this. Out of all the things we could've done he chose my childhood hobby.

"Do you think it's stupid?" he sounded disappointed.

I frantically shook my head from side to side, letting go of his hand so I could pick up a shell that I had spotted, "It's not stupid at all," I waved a univalve shell in his face, "I bet I can find bigger shells than you can, though, since I have more experience."

He smirked, "Please, I have some mad shell finding skills."

"Oh really? Well we'll see about that."

And so the competition started. I tried not to be distracted by Brady when he decided he just had to take his shirt off and start searching in the water. I swear he did that on purpose just so that I would lose focus. No doubt that it was working really well. I honestly could not find a shell without peaking at him every now and then. I felt that I would die if I didn't see him which was kind of pathetic…

By the time we both had decided that it was time to stop, Brady spread out the blanket on the sand and we both sat down next to each other. I counted my shells while he counted his.

"Twenty seven beat that."

I sighed and tried to look defeated, "Damn," I turned my face towards his, "you're good," pause, "but I'm better cause I got thirty two," I stuck my tongue out at him.

"What? That's a lie!" Brady pretended to look like he was mad but the happiness in his eyes gave him away,"Let me count them for you," he tried to reach over and grab my shells but I grabbed his hands so he wouldn't.

"You are such a sore loser," I giggled.

"Are not."

"Are too," I shot back.

"Are not."

"You so are," I laid down on my back, not even caring about the pain it caused me to feel.

He mimicked my position and turned his face towards mine so that we were looking directly at each other.

"What happened to letting me win?" I raised one eyebrow at him.

He scooted closer to me so that our arms were now touching, "I figured I should be fair since we both know that I would've won last time."

I nudged him with my elbow, "But you didn't."

"Nope," his eyes connected with mine, "I didn't."

I felt my whole body go limp from the brown orbs that were looking at my green ones. He smiled at me as if he were deep in thought, thinking about something that only existed in his head.

"What's that look for?" I blurted out.

He shrugged, "I've been waiting for this day for a while."

I placed my palm in his own, "Me too."

And for a moment I couldn't think about anything else except for what it would be like to kiss him. What it would feel like to have his warm lips against my cold ones. I knew that at any moment now it could happen, but would it? Better yet, was I even ready for it?

**anybody have an answer for her? hehehe**

**next chapter is a continuation of this one cause i'm DEFINITELY not done with this birthday stuff :) **

**let me know if you liked this chapter! love you all!**

**~KK**


	17. Author's Note! VERY IMPORTANT!

Hello everyone that could possibly be looking at this! If you were one of my amazing readers/reviewers (I'm going to assume that this is very few of you) and you are reading this now then I would love to say thank you. Thank you because I have been a huge ass for not posting anything in oh I don't know ALMOST A YEAR...I'm so sorry everyone. I don't have much of an excuse except life kind of happened. Last days of high school happened. Falling in and out of a relationship happened. Crew for theatre happened. Everything happened. Job applications happened. Interview number uno happened.

Like I said that's not a great excuse for not writing, but I can tell you that I am truly missing the days where I posted my precious chapters (PRECIOUUUSSSSSSSSSSS). I'm missing Sammy and Paul and Melody and Brady. I'm missing my peeps. I'm missing it allllll soo much right about now. I have been creepin (yes creepin) around here lately and reading over my stories and I feel pretty crappy about leaving you all hanging right at the end of Best Friends No More and right before a crucial part of In Too Deep. I even read it and thought that there should be more. And yes, I have the ideas still rattling around in my head. And yes I think about these stories every day. I even have an original story idea popping into my head now. :P

So all I can say now if you're reading this is I hope you can give me another chance at getting into the old swing of things and writing up a storm. And I hope that you will still be amazing readers and reviewers of mine.

If you feel like you don't even remember half of the shit (I do swear too much) I wrote about before then read the stories over (only if you want too).

So, my first task will be...IN TOO DEEP. The idea for the next chapter of that is stuck in my brain and even partially typed up already. I'm also pissed though because two months ago my computer got a lovely virus on it and I had the amazing chance to completely rid my harddrive of everything that was on it. INCLUDING almost half of this next chapter for In Too Deep. FML x100000 :D. But I can say I do remember what I had written pretty well. I hope I can just write it out well enough. Basically I have a new computer with nothing on it except this note and what I'm currently trying to write.

I hope you don't see this and think DAMN TOO MUCH TOO READ! well if you do then I'm sowwy :( too much to write about.

One last thing is I changed my username from FightingEclipse44 to TragicallyMagical.

My twilight ship is sailing and I am no longer the HUGE fan I used to be. Now don't get disappointed I still love the wolves and Jacob and my characters and their storylines. I just love Falling In Reverse a lot tooo teeheee. (look them up! They're awesome!)

ONE MORE BIG THANK YOU FOR ALL WHO READ THIS!

And if you want me to pick up writing again then please please leave a REVIEW saying so! If i don't get many reviews then I don't know what I will do exactly. I would understand why people wouldn't want to come back and read. I have been an unfaithful author :(

Sorry everyone...

I'm rambling

so I'm going to bid you adeu

~KK


	18. 16 Happily Ever After

**Thank you everyone who responded to my last AN :) I appreciate the fact that you still want more from me and since you reviewed here is the next chapter. I'm hoping to post the next chapter for Best Friends No More next if I can get all my ideas together and then continue with this one. **

**Well I hope you enjoy my first chapter back hehe **

**and I read it over and don't think it's my best but don't be discouraged you can make your own opinions. **

**The song used for this chapter is an awesome song sooo please listen to it! Thank you for reading!**

Song for this chapter- Stranger by Katie Costello

Chapter 16

Happily Ever After

We sat there in the sand until the sun had completely disappeared and we could no longer see anything but each others faces. After laying in the sand, hand in hand with Brady for almost four and a half hours talking about nonsense, I had almost forgotten how bad things were just this morning. It was only when I stood up that I was reminded of it all. Brady snaked his arm around my waist when I hissed in pain from the bruises all over my body. He cleaned up our stuff and put all of the shells in my bag before helping me back to my truck.

It didn't even occur to me to ask him where we were going next, but as soon as I saw the huge lit up sign that said Delia's Diner I knew. A small grin crept on my face as we pulled into the parking lot. I was actually feeling really hungry now that I think about it.

We sat in our usual booth at the back of the diner and before I could even begin to protest, Brady had ordered both of us cheeseburgers with a side of fries and chocolate milkshakes. I honestly didn't mind him ordering for me either since I enjoyed getting this the last time we came here.

As we chowed down on our food and chatted for a while I began to feel my torso throb, along with my eye and my leg. I fidgeted in my seat a little because of the pain and of course, Brady had to notice.

"Are you alright?" he began to look worried.

I shook my head and got out of the booth, "I have to go to the bathroom."

I walked towards the sign on the wall that said restrooms without saying another word. Pushing through the door, I practically stumbled to the sink and whailed in pain. After a couple of minutes of whining, I looked underneath all of the stalls to make sure no one else was in here with me. Once I was sure I was alone I inspected myself closely in the mirror. To my extreme disappointment there was my huge black eye, completely exposed for the whole world to see.

"Great," I mumbled to myself.

Brady didn't even mention to me that I looked like a raccoon. As if I wasn't looking suspicious enough at this point.

I splashed some warm water on my face before I took the cover-up out of my pocket and dabbed my eye all over again. When I finally made sure I looked presentable I took a couple deep breaths before opening the door and walked back towards our table.

Brady turned around and looked at me, "Sorry," I said quietly, "I wasn't feeling good."

I sat back down across from him and began to sip on my milkshake, feeling the intensity of his gaze on me the whole time.

"We can leave if you want," he suggested.

"No, I really want to stay I just-," I paused, trying to think of what to say next, but coming up with nothing.

"You're hurt," he finished for me.

I ducked my head and prevented myself from looking at him, "You could've at least told me my eye looked so horrible."

Brady didn't say anything for a few minutes which made me really regret saying that. It was only going to open up a whole new can of worms that I didn't feel like dealing with right now. Plus, it really wasn't his fault that my eye looked this way. I should've been more careful about it.

Actually, this never should've even happened this morning.

He sighed and looked down at the food in front of him before patting the empty seat beside him, "Come here," he told me.

I hesitated for a minute, but did as I was told and sat right next to him, making sure that I didn't look at his face. He pulled me close to him so that our sides were now touching. I shivered from the warmth of his skin. Keeping one of his arms around my waist, he grabbed my chin and forced me to face him, but I still kept my eyes down anyways.

As he rubbed the bruise beneath my eye I felt a couple tears trickle down my cheeks. I couldn't exactly put my finger on why I decided to start crying right then, but maybe it was just another part of me that was cracking. Another part that was telling me that I couldn't take the pain anymore, and I couldn't keep lying to him.

"This wasn't an accident," it wasn't a question when the words came out of his mouth and I felt my heart drop after he said it.

I couldn't find it in me to open my mouth and confirm his statement. I had to think more about this before I could let it all come out. Those four words were just a confirmation that he was catching on. I couldn't let myself believe that he knew everything, though.

"Let's just pay for this and go."

I nodded and finally built up enough strength to look in his eyes, "I'm sorry."

He shook his head as he answered, "You're not the one that has to be sorry."

* * *

We drove in silence on our way to his house, and I felt like it was my fault that the mood had suddenly changed. It wasn't supposed to be this way. He took me out so we could have fun on my birthday, not so that I could get all emotional and ruin his plans. I was bothered by not only what I did, but what he said.

_"This wasn't an accident."_

That sentence repeated in my head over and over again. There was something in the pit of my stomach that was afraid that sooner rather than later I would have to spill my guts. I wasn't really prepared for that now. It wasn't like I could just walk away from him either.

I looked at him sitting beside me, concentrating on the road.

No, that wasn't even possible now. I had gotten myself into this and I wasn't going to get out. I didn't want to get out of this relationship I had with him. But what type of relationship this was I didn't exactly know. I did know that we were too far gone to be considered friends, and yet I couldn't say that we were romantically involved either. We were somewhere in the middle of that if that was even possible, and I really don't think we could go back to just being friends now. That scared me a little bit.

The car finally came to a stop in his driveway. He didn't get out of the car like I thought he would, though.

"I care about you," he said, "a lot."

I turned my head towards him and listened as he spoke.

"And I can't stand to see you hurting like this anymore."

My heart stuttered and I tried to swallow the bad feeling that was creeping up my throat. As I stared at him I debated in my head whether or not I felt like I was ready to take our relationship further.

I watched as he got out of the drivers seat and opened the door on my side for me like he always did, but this time he wouldn't let me out.

"I don't want you to be upset, so from here on out we're going to forget about what just happened back there and have fun. Deal?"

I managed to grin, "Deal."

We walked into the house and immediately plopped down onto the couch, flipping through the channels for what seemed like forever. When we finally found a romance movie that was on one of the local channels we both settled in next to each other.

It wasn't until about a quarter of a way through the movie that Brady's mom came through the door. I assumed that she was coming home from work by the way she was dressed. She carried a few groceries in her hands which made me get a tiny bit suspicious.

"I was hoping I would find you here Melody," she smiled widely and dropped her purse and groceries onto the lazy boy next to the couch, "Happy birthday!" she wrapped her arms around me and I did the same to her.

"Thank you," I responded with a smile on my face. In that moment I wished that my mom would do this to me. But she was never home, so it never happened and when she was home she would usually forget about my birthday all together.

"I'll be in the kitchen making your cake if you need me," she winked at us as she headed in the opposite direction leaving me no time to ask questions.

"Sorry about that," Brady said.

"She's making me a cake?" I was surprised to say the least.

He rolled his eyes, "Yeah, she loves baking a little bit too much."

I smiled wider than I was two seconds ago, "So, what's wrong with that?"

He looked at my face and seemed to want to take back what he said, "Nothing, I guess."

We turned our attention back to the movie watching as the typical romance storyline played out. Girl meets boy, girl falls in love with boy. Girl and boy have misunderstanding and "break up". Girl and boy realize they don't want to be without each other. Girl and boy get back together and, you guessed it, live happily ever after. It was too cheesy for my taste.

"Happily ever after doesn't exist," I proclaimed as the credits started to roll.

"Someone's a little bitter," Brady chuckled.

I faced him, "I'm not, it's just that wouldn't ever happen in real life."

"Why not? I think it can if you find the one you're supposed to be with forever," he held my gaze, "If you find your soul mate."

I paused for a moment before speaking again, "I really don't believe in the whole soul mate thing."

"You should."

I furrowed my eyebrows and scooted closer to him, "Why should I?"

His eyes met mine, "Because I know for a fact that soul mates exist. The whole love at first sight thing, it's real."

For some reason I got the feeling that I was supposed to burn that in the back of my mind somewhere. I couldn't help but think that he really wanted me to think about that for a while.

Eventually I managed to fall asleep after our whole soul mate discussion. It wasn't long before I began to have yet another nightmare.

_I was in the water as always, drowning again. I looked to the spot where I saw the angel floating in the water. He got closer than the last time, close enough so that I could just see his eyes and the shape of his muscles. For the first time ever I reached out my hand even though he was too far away for me to touch. _

_And then he did something I never expected him to do. He swam even closer to me, which caused me to begin to feel warmer despite the cold water I was drowning in. I tried to move my legs and arms so I could get even closer, because if I did then I would finally know who the angel is. But it was no use, it wouldn't happen for me. _

Before I knew it I was being pulled out of the nightmare and back into reality. Again, I gasped for air as if I was drowning and for the first time I heard someone as I did it.

"Mel!" his warm arms were on either of my shoulders, keeping me steady as I coughed for no reason, "Are you ok?"

I nodded my head because I couldn't speak.

"What happened?"

I waited until I gained control of my breathing to answer, "I had a nightmare."

I wasn't going to get into details about it with him right now. He wouldn't even begin to understand if I tried.

"You sure you're alright?"

I sighed, "Yeah, it happens all the time," I rose up from the bed I was lying in. I looked around me and realized I was in Brady's room, "How long was I sleeping for?"

He shrugged, "Only about an hour. Which is good timing since my mom just finished your cake."

I smiled at that, "She really didn't have to do that you know."

He grabbed my hand as I stood up from the bed, "Too late for that."

Once we reached the kitchen I saw Brady's father who I'm guessing had come home from work while I was asleep. He wished me a happy birthday as Mrs. Greene sat me down right in front of the chocolate cake that was on the table. All three of them sang happy birthday to me as I blushed the whole time.

A tingly feeling creeped up on me as I realized that this was the first time that it felt like I had parents who cared that I was a year older today even though they weren't my own flesh and blood. I thought of Noah when the singing subsided and stared at the flaming candles in front of me.

"I miss you," I whispered low enough so no one could hear me.

I felt Brady's hand on my shoulder and his breath on my neck as he said, "Make a wish."

I laughed softly for a second before I started to come up with something to wish for. Looking up at Brady made me think of one that seemed efficient enough.

I closed my eyes and thought to myself, _I wish that I will have more birthdays just like this in the future with him here with me._

Opening my eyelids one by one I slowly blew out each and every candle, hoping that my wish would come true.

* * *

We were back in his room, me with my eyes closed yet again and him trying to surprise me with something else. I really didn't know what else he could possibly surprise me with. Today was enough of a surprise for me. I didn't know if I could take anything else.

"What are you doing?"

It sounded like he was rummaging through his drawer or something, "You'll see."

"I can't see much of anything right now."

He laughed, "Just be patient smart ass."

I couldn't help but giggle. He searched for a few more minutes before I eventually felt the bed creak from underneath me.

"Hold out your hand," he said.

I did what he told me and felt him grab my wrist as he placed something delicate and rigid in my palm. I had absolutely no idea what it could be at that point.

"Open your eyes."

I looked down at my hand and smiled when I saw a beautiful green bracelett in my hand. It had different charms around it with a few turquoise beads in it. I looked at him in disbelief.

"This is really beautiful," I said, "Where did you find it?"

He took it out of my hand for a second and began to wrap it around my wrist, "A jewelry store in Port Angeles. Its a Native American sterl sand cast turquoise bracelett. I got it because it reminded me of you and your green eyes."

I chuckled, "You shouldn't have done th-,"

"Nope," he put one finger on my lips to keep me from talking, "I wanted too."

I shook my head at him as I gawked at the beauty of it, "Thank you so much," I wrapped my arms around his neck, "I can't believe you did all of this for me today."

"Only for you," he said as he pulled away from me, "But one more thing," and then he was suddenly getting up again.

My eyes widened, "Something else?"

"Yes."

I sighed loudly, "I don't deserve all of this."

He picked something up off of his dresser and came back to where he was sitting before, "I think you do," he handed me two pieces of paper.

But they weren't pieces of paper, they were two tickets to see Bullet For My Valentine in Seattle.

I froze in place, "Brady I-,"

"No," he smiled, "We're going. I don't want to hear anything about how its too expensive or some crap about you not deserving it."

I bit the inside of my lip and stared at the tickets in my hands, "No one's ever done this much for me before."

His face inched closer to mine, "Then I must've done a pretty damn good job."

* * *

It was almost one in the morning when we left his house. I didn't even care, though, I loved every minute of it. I could easily say that it was one of the best days of my life. This morning I felt like it was just going to be like the rest of my birthdays, but no, it turned out to be so much better than that.

My cheeks were beginning to hurt from how much I was smiling. That was until I realized what I had to face when I got home.

Hell.

I looked at Brady for a moment, still trying to fathom the fact that he practically knows everything. I knew this was going to happen, but I didn't think it would be this soon. A small part of me wanted to run from this thing between us, this weird connection that we had. And the rest of me just wanted to say screw it and give in. I wanted to take our relationship further, but there was always that baggage that dragged along beside me everyday. I wasn't a normal girl. I didn't have a normal childhood with normal parents. I was pretty much a basket case, or at least a partial basket case right now. The only reason why I wouldn't be conisdered one is because of him.

I sighed as we pulled up to my house. Here we go again, back to this stupid shit.

Brady stopped the car, and like before he didn't get out right away.

"I hope you had fun today."

I smiled, "Actually, I had an amazing time. Thank you for the gifts and the shell collecting."

He laughed, "I would've won if you didn't cheat."

I rolled my eyes, "Sore loser," I opened my door and stepped out into the fresh misty air. He copied what I was doing and walked over to my side of the car.

I didn't even attempt to start moving towards my house because I was dreading it so much. I wanted to stay right here with him until the sun rose and we would have to go to school.

"I can't tell you enough how thankful I am for everything you did for me today."

Brady took a step closer to me, "Saying it once is more than enough."

I bit my lip, "No, I mean it," I raised my head to meet his eyes, ready to say something that's completely true, "I've never had people actually care about me turning a year older. It was nice to feel special for once."

He stayed quiet after I said that which made me believe that I should've never opened my mouth in the first place. I felt like an idiot. Like I just told him something personal that he didn't want to hear and didn't care about. How could I be so stupid? He doesn't want to know the details. He doesn't want to carry around my baggage.

"I'll see you tomorrow," I turned to leave since I knew I probably just embarassed myself.

"Melody," he grabbed my wrist and stopped me from moving any further.

I turned back towards him and waited to hear what he wanted to say, but he still said nothing. He only brushed a strand of hair out of my face and kept staring at me for what seemed like forever. I felt more exposed than ever.

"Look, Brady I-," the next thing I knew he was weaving his fingers through my hair and his lips were pressed against mine. For a second I was shocked and just stood there stiff and confused, and then the next moment I was kissing him back. His lips were soft and warm, and I felt this sort of spark run through my entire body as we kissed each other. I could only describe it as feeling...right. Like moving forward with our relationship was how it was supposed to be.

He pulled away and left me feeling lightheaded and at an ultimate high. The only thing I could do was stare at him, and that's basically all both of us did for two minutes. Finally, we both said a quick goodbye and went our separate ways. I walked up to the house slowly, trying to figure out what just happened.

Closing the door behind me, I slid down to the floor and sat there, knowing that things were only going to get complicated from here on out. I would have to tell him the details. It would come down to whether or not he could handle it. But if kissing him was that amazing, then I would hope that he would be able to handle it.

All I know is that was by far the best birthday present I've ever gotten.

**Again thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it this chapter has been in my head for a while and like I said idk it seems kind of OK but not AMAZING but I'll let you be the judge of that :P**

**Also I'm posting a link for a picture of the bracelett he gave her just in case you're curious! I thought it looked sooo pretty **

**please leave a review so I know I should continue! :)**


	19. 17 Brady Withdrawal

**Hey guys for those of you that might think this is an update its not! Its chapter 17 I messed something up so I had to redo everything so I had to repost this chapter! Sorry if I got your hopes up but a new chapter is coming very soon! I've been typing it up so yeahhh be excited :)**

**I know I haven't updated in a while and I just want to apologize. College is pretty damn difficult and I've had to focus on that lately. So I really got my writing juices flowing and decided to finish this up tonight**

**I hope you like it as much as I do :D **

**please leave a review at the end letting me know what you think!**

Song for this chapter- Dive Too Deep by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

Chapter 17

Brady Withdrawal

_"So, do you have a crush on Matt?" _

_I looked at my brother like he was crazy, "Are you kidding me? No! I barely even talk to the kid!"_

_Noah relaxed at my words, "Good, 'cause he looks like bad news."_

_My eyes did a dramatic roll, "You know not every guy I happen to talk to is 'bad news'," I said as I stared out the window at the millions of trees we were passing, "Besides, the only reason I was even talking to Matt was because we were forced to work on a project together in history class."_

_"Yeah well, I still don't like him," he put a cigarette in his mouth._

_I laughed sarcastically, "I've come to realize that you don't like any guys that come within five feet of me."_

_"That is not true," the smell of tobacco filled the car, "I like Connor."_

_"You like Connor now, but that's only because you forced him to go through a bunch of dumb tests first. Thank God the kid passed," I smiled at the memory of that stupid crap Noah made him do._

_First, Noah had a small chat with him. I still remember Connor coming up to me after lunch, saying that my brother asked him if he was a virgin and what his intentions with me were. Talk about awkward..._

_"Let's not forget you threatening to cut his balls off if you ever caught him doing something innappropriate to me." _

_He laughed, "So what? I can't help it if I'm protective of you. If I'm the only one that's going to do that shit for you then I'm going to do it right."_

_"Ok, but he just wanted to be my friend and you were asking him questions as if I was going to date him."_

_Second, Noah watched his every move in school. He even gave me a curfew for whenever I hung out with Connor. It was pretty ridiculous. _

_"Do you want to date him?"_

_I punched him in the arm, "Are you crazy? He's my best friend!"_

_A smirk appeared on his face, "Just checking."_

_Third, Connor had to promise not to touch me unless I gave consent to it. Even though I thought this rule was also ridiculous; it made sense to me considering what we both went through on a daily basis. Noah wasn't going to let any guy hurt me like my father does or else, and I quote, he wouldn't be able to live with himself. _

_"You know I'm just looking out for you, right?" he took his eyes off the road for a second to look at me._

_I nodded, "Yeah, I know and I love you for it, but can you please tone it down just a tiny bit next time?" As if there was going to be a next time. Almost every guy in school thought I was a freak. _

_"I'll have to think about that. God, if you ever get a boyfriend I don't know what I'm going to do."_

_I chuckled, "You'll probably have a heart attack. Don't worry, though, that will probably never happen."_

* * *

I flinched at the sound of a locker slamming beside me. Taking in my surroundings, I sighed heavily. I think its happening. The one thing I thought would never happen is happening, unless Brady freaks out when I tell him everything about my life. Then maybe it won't happen.

"Hey, Mel," I jumped at the sound of my name, feeling completely out of it.

"Hi," I looked up at my best friend, wanting to smile as widely as he was right now but knowing that that probably wasn't going to happen at all today. I was way too nervous about my plan to spill my guts to Brady after school.

"So, did you like my gift?" he asked.

I tried to focus on what he said instead of on what I was going to say to Brady, "I loved it," my lips trembled when I grinned because it was so fake.

For a moment he just looked at me, then he finally noticed it, "Nice try," his eyes narrowed, "What's bothering you?"

I forced my eyes to focus on the ground as I tapped my foot nervously, wavering whether or not I should tell him. I knew I had to leave out Brady kissing me since it would probably make him feel as shitty as I do right now. Could I tell him the rest?

"Mel," he grabbed both of my arms and I looked back at his face, "what's up?"

I bit my lip, letting the words pour out of my mouth, "I'm going to tell Brady," I paused, "about everything."

He stayed quiet for a minute, furrowing his eyebrows and slowly letting go of me, "Are you sure it's the right time?"

I sighed, knowing he was going to say something like this, "He's practically figured everything out now; I just have to confirm it," I played with the green bracelet on my wrist that Brady had given me.

I heard Connor grunt, "Well, you know I'm here for you if things go bad," he said.

I felt calmer knowing that he was always going to be my rock. He would be the one that sticks with me through everything, "I know," I glanced up at him, "and I appreciate you being here every time I need you."

Connor slightly smiled, slinging his arm over my shoulder as we began to walk to our first class. I couldn't say that I was completely happy about the fact that I had physics with Brady first. It left me no time to think about whether or not I wanted to go through with this. I had to tell him that I wanted to talk after school, and there was no turning back now.

As Connor and I went our separate ways, I felt myself starting to feel nauseous. I tried walking as slowly as humanly possible once I spotted the door to my class. My heart was beating so fast inside of my chest that I was sure it was going to burst. It seemed as if everything moved in slow motion once I reached the door. My sweaty palm turned the knob and I bit my lip as I took the first step inside of the room. I immediately stopped when I saw what waited for me.

The chair Brady should be sitting in was empty.

I looked at every desk and didn't find his face anywhere. Once more people started filing into the room behind me I decided I should stop looking like an idiot and sit down. My eyes never left his seat, and when I was finally sitting down I only took my eyes off of it to see what time it was.

Three minutes until the start of class. Usually he would be here by now, waiting for me. He was always here before I was, but maybe he's running late?

I tapped my fingers nervously on the desk as the time passed, and then the bell finally rang. There was still no sign of him. When Mr. Snyder started his lecture he still wasn't there. I began to sink in my chair after ten minutes. It became pretty obvious to me that he wasn't going to be in school. I didn't know if I thought that was a bad or good thing.

Yes, I was scared about telling him about my life, but I just wanted to get it over with. Maybe the fear would lessen if I did. Well, that obviously wasn't going to happen today.

* * *

I stared at their table as I moved slowly in the lunch line. It was only Seth and Collin sitting there today. A feeling in my gut was telling me that they knew exactly where Brady was. Whether or not they were going to tell me would be the real question.

"What are you staring at?" I jumped at Connor's voice, swallowing the bad feeling in my throat.

He couldn't be avoiding me could he? Does he regret kissing me yesterday? Is he ever going to come back?

Ugh, shut up, "Brady's not here," I said quietly.

"Seriously?" he stood beside me so he could get a better look at my face, "Is that a good or bad thing?"

"I wish I knew the answer to that," I paid for my food and waited for Connor to do the same.

"What happened between you two yesterday?"

I was afraid he would ask that. We both began to walk towards some unknown table. I was still trying to decide if I should talk to the two people that knew Brady best.

"Mel? Are you listening to me?"

I tried to think of an answer for him, hardly being able to come up with something halfway decent, "We kissed," I literally clamped my hand over my mouth. Of course, I would be so careless and not even think about what I was saying. Who knows what he's thinking right now. I need to focus and stop being so damn stupid.

"Oh," he didn't say anything else. We both just stood there for a minute, awkwardly trying not to think about what I just said, "I'll be right back."

I couldn't help but watch as he dumped his tray of perfectly good food into the trash and quickly hurry out of the cafeteria. It was my entire fault that I probably just hurt him even more. As bad as I felt I knew there was nothing I could do right now. Trying to comfort him would only make things worse. I would just have to wait it out.

For now, I had to focus on the task at hand. I took one deep breath and began walking towards them. They didn't even notice me until I was standing right in front of their faces. That was when I realized that I had no choice but to take a risk and just ask them.

"Hey guys," I said mustering up the best smile I could, "Can I sit here?"

They looked at each other before nodding and pulling out a chair for me. My palms began to feel sweaty and my heart started racing.

"So I kind of have to ask you something," both of them had three different trays set up in front of them, each piled up with stacks of food. I couldn't even think about eating right now.

"We already know what you're gonna ask," Seth stated.

"You do?" I wasn't all that surprised.

"Yes, and he's sick."

Collin wouldn't even look at me while Seth seemed to find it hard to even answer that. Something about this made me feel suspicious. I knew from experience that they were lying. I've been doing it for years and I still suck at it, showing the same signs they are. Not making eye contact, keeping answers short and sweet, and covering up one important secret.

"He didn't seem too sick yesterday," I muttered.

"He must've caught it overnight," Collin added.

Another lie. I could see right through them. What the hell is going on here?

I didn't know if I should just flat out tell them that their lying skills were lacking, but even then I'm sure they wouldn't crack. They would just keep piling on lie after lie like I always do. I might be bad at lying but I'm good at detecting when someone else is doing it.

"Don't worry he'll be back in school soon," Seth smiled at me, trying to make me feel better.

I nodded and put on a fake smile, wanting to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible.

* * *

This was probably the first time I was ever going to be a rebel in history class. It was for a good cause, though. I had to figure out this jumbled up mess for myself.

Pulling out my phone, I went to Brady's number.

**You're not in school today and your friends say you're sick, but I don't know how to believe them. If you could just answer this question then I'll be ok. Do you regret what happened yesterday?**

I hesitantly hit the send button and slipped my phone back into my pocket. I chewed on my nails one by one as I waited for a response. Not once in the time I sat in that uncomfortable desk did I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. Did this mean something?

Resting my head on my desk, I felt my eyes begin to get damp. For the first time I was crying over something other than my brother or my father. I was crying over Brady.

A guy that I'm really falling for.

At the end of class, the bell was an indication that it had been forty five minutes since I sent that text message. As the night went on, my hope for an answer was slipping right through my fingers. I would have to wait until he came back to figure it all out.

The only good thing about today had to be the fact that I never got hit once. Every time my father came close to hurting me I heard the wolf howl, and in a second my dad was out trying to hunt him down. Instead of hurting me he focused on the wolf. It was weird that so coincidentally this had to happen, but I didn't really think twice about it. The best thing was that he was saving me each time. I had to thank the wolf for that sometime.

* * *

The next day was much like the first. He wasn't there. I went through school trying to text him as much as I could, but getting absolutely no response whatsoever. I was experiencing Brady withdrawal and it was definitely not fun at all. Connor was avoiding me today which didn't help my situation much. Soon I would have to straighten things out with him.

It was the third day and Brady still hadn't been back. I didn't even attempt to text him, I went through school thinking that he was going to ignore me anyways. For tonight I think my focus has to be getting a hold of Brady via phone call.

I paced back and forth as the phone rang over and over again.

"Please pick up," I whispered to myself.

Ringing, ringing, ringing…voicemail.

I cursed to myself and threw my phone onto the ground. It was no use. If he wasn't answering my texts then he wasn't going to answer his cell phone when I called either. There was only one other option. Call his house phone.

I reluctantly picked up my phone and dialed the number, plopping myself down onto my window seat. As the phone rang I stared out into the black that engulfed the backyard. Looking into the tree line, I could just barely see-

"Hello?"

I yelped at the sound, trying to compose myself enough to answer, "Hi Mrs. Greene? It's Melody."

"Oh Melody! How are you dear?" she asked in a sweet tone.

I smiled, "I'm ok I was just wondering if Brady was there by any chance?"

My eyes went back to where I spotted the wolf's figure. I could've sworn it was looking right at me. Who knows maybe I was just going nuts instead.

"No, I'm sorry Melody he's not. Would you like to leave a message for him? I could tell him to call you when he gets back."

How could he be out if he's sick? "No that's ok, I guess I'll just see him in school, uh, sometime," he probably wouldn't call me anyways, "Thank you though."

"No problem dear. It was nice talking to you."

"Nice talking to you too, have a good night," I replied, never once taking my eyes off of the wolf.

"You too."

I hung up the phone and watched him as he watched me. Without even thinking I opened my window and grabbed onto the tree branch closest to it. I quickly climbed down the tree and searched for his eyes, grinning slightly when I saw them.

"You've been saving me," I said as I inched closer to the trees. For the first time ever the wolf took a cautious step backwards. I shook my head, "No, don't go," I practically pleaded with the animal, "I just wanted to thank you that's all," I was only a foot away from the wolf.

What was funny was that he seemed to be making sure to keep his head down so I couldn't see his eyes. It never seemed to amaze me how smart he was, "If only you could answer the question for me, then maybe I wouldn't be feeling so hopeless right now."

I heard him grunt in front of me, nudging my hand with his wet nose. I massaged his fur for a bit before the wolf started to quickly pull away from my grip. Taking a few steps backward, he slightly looked up at me. I barely got a glimpse of his face before he was sprinting off into the forest.

That was the one thing that made today seem worth it. I haven't seen the wolf in a long time, but I have definitely heard him lately. It was nice to see one face I was hoping to see lately. The other face, well, let's just say I don't know what's going on with him.

* * *

It was the fourth day and I had absolutely no intention of getting my hopes up. I was done trying to get a hold of him. If he wanted to avoid me then he could do just that. I won't try to bother him anymore.

I collected my books out of my locker, feeling as good as ever. All the bruises on my body were now healing into a yellowish brown color, and the cuts were all faded. For once I didn't hurt anywhere except for, well, maybe my heart. I wanted to see Brady so bad that I could practically scream it out in this hallway right now. I hadn't gotten the answers I needed yet, and I doubted now more than ever to tell Brady everything about me.

Suddenly, someone's hands were covering my eyes. They were big, warm, and smelled like pine. I felt my heart stutter when I realized who it was.

"Guess who?" he whispered softly in my ear.

"The guy who's been MIA for the past three days," I answered sourly.

He lifted his hands off of my face and I turned around so I could finally see him. His breathtaking face looked unusually distraught compared to how it usually looks. His hair was a tad bit messy, but other than that he was just plain old gorgeous Brady Greene.

"You don't know how sorry I am."

"No, I don't. What I do know is that you never even bothered to answer my ten million texts. Not to mention you never picking up the phone when I called. I mean honestly Brady if you regret everything that happened yesterday why didn't you just come-,"

His lips crashed onto mine and I completely lost my train of thought. Every angry thought I had was gone. Everything I could've used against him left me. One second I was fuming with rage and the next I'm melting away. I could only focus on how amazing it felt to have our lips meet again.

He pulled away and kept a sly grin on his face, "You were saying?"

I had to mentally tell myself to breathe before I spoke, "Where the hell have you been?"

"I swear I texted you last night right after-,"

He didn't finish his sentence which made me suspicious yet again. It's funny how the tables have turned. Now I'm the one getting suspicious of him.

I quickly took out my phone to check my messages, ignoring his last statement. Sure enough, there was one unread message from Brady.

"I guess you did," I stated.

I read over the message, **I regret nothing. If anything I regret being away from you for so long. I'm going to be in school tomorrow so we can talk about everything then.**

"So, am I off the hook?"

I chuckled, "Not even close. First, you have to explain to me why you weren't in school, and second," I paused before saying the second, "I really need to talk to you after school," I took my eyes off of his face.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see his smile turn into a hard line, "Ok, whatever you want," his fingers brushed against my wrist, "You're wearing it," I followed his gaze and grinned.

"I have been ever since you gave it to me," he finally intertwined our hands and we both began to walk towards our physics class together, "but don't try to change the subject. Why weren't you in school?"

He shrugged, "I was sick."

And that was all I got; a simple answer that didn't do much for me. I guess I should've been expecting it, but on the other hand I would've liked for him to tell me what was really going on. I knew that I was being selfish and hypocritical if I said that though. I've been doing the same thing to him ever since I met him. So, I decided to leave it at that. He was sick.

"You could've at least called. Actually, you should've just come to school and infected everyone. I would've preferred that since I have too much on my mind right now."

He laughed, "Well, you can tell me whatever you need to after school. I'll just sit there and listen," he kissed me on the cheek.

I wasn't so sure if it was going to go that smoothly. The punched in the gut feeling came back to me. I had to think of what I was going to say again. I had to get all worked up and nervous again.

This was going to be one long day.

* * *

The last bell rang and I swear everyone jumped out of their seats at the same time. I was silently hoping that that bell would never ring.

"Are you planning on getting up?" Brady was standing in front of my desk, hovering over me.

I sighed and slowly rose from my seat, feeling like I was about to throw up. I had to do it or else I could never be with Brady. It was either do it or lose the one person who makes everything worthwhile.

As we walked together I stayed completely quiet. He didn't try to ask me anything or bring up something random. He only watched me as I gathered everything I needed for my homework. I bit the inside of my cheek to prevent my heart from falling out of my mouth. It honestly felt like my heart was pounding in my throat right now.

"You know you can tell me anything," he put that out there.

I let out the breath I was holding in, "Yeah but this isn't just anything."

He nodded, looking down at the floor for a moment before he grabbed my hand once again. I led us out into the parking lot, explaining to him that it would be better if no one was around us while we talked about this. He didn't protest as we became farther and farther away from the school.

I didn't exactly know where I should begin because I've only done this once, and it seemed like everything just poured out of me at once when I told Connor. This time was different. I didn't have any indication as to how Brady was going to react. I just had to jump right into it and never look back.

I stopped walking, Brady soon following me, "Mel, don't be afraid to talk to me. Just say it."

I nodded, "I don't know how to exactly say this gently, so I think I'm just going to spit it out." The only thing I could hear anymore was my heart pounding in my head, "On my birthday I told you I got hurt from falling down the stairs," I faced him, "and when I came over to your house I told you I cut my hand on a plate that I accidentally dropped."

He looked me straight in the eye, saying absolutely nothing. The silence pushed me to move on.

"None of that ever happened," I felt Brady squeeze my hand in encouragement. Everything was leading up to this moment. I was finally going to be completely honest with him. I was ready to jump and take a risk. It was now or nothing, "The only memories I have as a kid is getting," I paused for a second, "getting beaten by my father."

I couldn't look at him now, I just needed to continue, "My brother was always the one to get the worst of it. He would try to protect me. I guess he just couldn't take it anymore so he just…gave up. I've never known my mom because she's never exactly been in my life. Work has always been her top priority."

I took a couple deep breaths before I kept speaking, "I don't exactly know why he hurts me so much, but I'm pretty sure half of its alcohol and the other half's just hatred for ever having me," I swore I heard Brady growl, "I'm not even sure as to why he started drinking so much in the first place. He hated his life? I don't know but I've grown up getting my bones broken and my stomach bruised because of it. I've been raised to know that I'm a piece of crap that means nothing. I have to lie all the time just so that I don't get hurt even more by him," my eyes were swelling up with tears, "I've had to listen to him tell me that my brother's death was a good thing. I'm ignored by my mother whenever I do see her," I found it hard to breathe in order to get out the last of it, "and lately the only reason I want to live anymore is because I met you," as if he wants to hear that. As if he needs to know that this broken girl in front of him is going to ruin his life, "If you think I'm crazy and stupid then that's fine I can live with that. Just don't even think of telling anyone else what I just told you."

It was over. I got it out. I spilled my guts and now I just had to wait for a reaction. Even though I was close to crying right in front of him I looked up at him to see if I could tell what he was thinking. I didn't really get much since his face looked completely blank. He just stood there staring at me like I was some object on display.

I took my hand out of his and turned around, ready to run from his judgments.

When the silence didn't go away I assumed that he wanted nothing to do with me. He was probably disgusted with me and hated the very thought of me. I couldn't take it anymore, and yet I couldn't find it in me to move. I could only close my eyes and let the tears roll down my cheeks.

I barely heard his footsteps as he moved right in front of me. Without any hesitation he wrapped his arms around my torso and let me cry in his shoulder. I let out my sadness through the tears, not knowing if this meant he was staying or just saying a goodbye.

"You don't have to stay if you don't want to," I said in between sobs.

I heard him laugh a little, "You're nuts if you think I'm leaving you," He let go of me and put both of his hands on my cheeks instead, wiping away the tears.

"You don't hate me?"

"No," he shook his head and wouldn't stop looking at me like I really was crazy, "What I feel for you is the farthest thing from hate."

"So, you're going to stay?" I felt foolish for asking this question.

"I'm going to do more than that," his face became more serious, "I'm going to make sure he never lays a hand on you again."

I managed to actually smile despite all of the depressing things that were rattling around in my brain right now, "I swear I don't deserve you."

He rolled his eyes, and without saying another word he kissed me, which made me think that I couldn't get any luckier. Everything was out in the open and there were no secrets between us anymore. I could actually be happy for once in my life.

**So I hope you enjoyed this! :) I loved writing this chapter**

**and the REAL reason why Brady wasn't in school is because he and Sam were trying to figure out a way for him to constantly be at Melody's house so he could prevent her from getting hurt and it is obviously working. **

**IF ANYONE WOULD LIKE THE NEXT CHAPTER TO BE IN BRADY'S POV EXPLAINING WHAT HAPPENED THEN LET ME KNOW! :) **

**please leave a review :)**

**thanks for reading!**

**~KK**


	20. 18 Bingo Was Not His Nameo

**I'm back! Woooo! :) **

**So I honestly thought Brady's POV was never going to work out for me just because I had no idea what to write for him. Then something weird happened when I opened word. It all magically came to me. Weird right? I don't know how it happened, but I enjoyed every bit of it. This chapter is the longest one I've ever done for a story (applause) and I'm assuming its because Brady's been disappointed in me. Sorry Brady, but you got more space than you deserved in this one. I even wrote this in school in the library where I'm supposed to do homework. So you got special treatment dude. Don't complain.**

**Now that I'm done talking to him...**

**what does everyone think of Bruno Mars's song It Will Rain? I was listening to this half the time I wrote this chapter. I'm pretty obsessed with it because I believe Bruno is an amazing artist. I'm also very excited that Christina Perri is on the Breaking Dawn album! yayyyy she's awesome too!**

**ok enough of my annoying author's notes. Read on!**

Song for this Chapter- Angel in Disguise by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

Chapter 18

Bingo was Not His Name-o

**Brady's POV**

There were no excuses anymore. I couldn't sit here in this same spot everyday and just watch as she got hurt by that poor excuse for a human being. I had to act, but in a way that didn't mean I was physically there to stop him from hurting her.

It had to be around three in the morning. At this point I didn't even think sleep was an option tonight. I was on a high from getting the balls to finally kiss her, and I was also being weighed down by the fact that I couldn't fool around anymore. I had to think of a plan. A plan that would make all of the scars and bruises finally fade away into nothing.

I faintly heard Melody's steady heartbeat coming from the inside of her room. She was safe for now, so I could brainstorm ideas for the rest of the night and wait until the morning to bring my proposal to Sam. Unfortunately, this meant that I wouldn't actually see her in person tomorrow.

My tired eyes grew heavier when I thought about it. I laid down on the ground and thought about how I would get her hopes up for nothing. She would go to school wanting to talk about our kiss and what it meant, and I didn't even have the decency to show up and confirm how much that kiss meant to me. That one kiss that was going to change everything for us now. In a good way I hope….

I yawned and rested my head on my paws, ready to just take a quick-

_No! _I screamed at myself in my head, _Stay awake you fucking dumb ass. You think you can sleep while that beautiful girl in there has to suffer a pointless beating every single day of her life? Think of a plan! Now!_

I shook the tiredness away and completely ignored the fact that I just yelled at myself in my head. Thank God no one else is in their wolf form. I would never hear the end of that one.

_Ok. Enough of that. Think._

What could I do that was low key and still protected her at the same time? What could I use against him that he just had to leave her alone?

I didn't know him well, and I really wasn't planning on ever having to know him, so I was going on very little information right now. Like all I know about you is that you're the biggest asshole on the face of the planet information. Right, so how could I do this?

I tried to think of the only times I've ever seen him. Probably the most I've seen of him is through that kitchen window, filling up the garbage with beer cans. I've seen him outside a couple of times. I saw him once when he was being his regular douche bag self and trying to find some little thing to nag Melody about. The other was when I was in the garage with Melody and he wanted to hunt me down. Ha, I still found that part funny. A drunken man trying to kill a wolf two times his size that he hasn't seen once, that really seemed like it was going to work out in his favor.

I looked up at her window for a second, and then at the garage, finally setting my gaze onto the back door. That's when the light bulb went on in my head.

_Bingo!_ I wanted to dance around and make a fool out of myself, but then I realized I already accomplished that, _What? Bingo? Really? Freaking Bingo? A dog? Damn it I act so stupid when I'm tired._

I really needed to get some sleep. Since my plan was sort of taking form, I had a feeling that I was going to be able to do a little bit of that. A couple hours would definitely help me out tomorrow.

Since I didn't want to leave her alone, I decided to sleep on the ground in my wolf form. This was a rare occurrence for me because I have only done this one other time, and that was because I was patrolling all night and practically passed out right when I was finished. She was worth it though. I would take every beating for her if that meant that she didn't have to feel pain anymore. This was something rare for me too. I've never felt so strongly for somewhere to the point where I would want to take their place for them so they wouldn't have to suffer anymore. That was what imprinting did to you. It made you see sides of yourself you never even knew you had, even a whole different person.

And Bingo was not his name-o.

* * *

In the morning, I watched her as she headed out for school. I was surprised that she wasn't assuming that I was going to pick her up. Maybe I would have to try better at letting her know that I would take her to school whenever she wanted. For now, I just had to watch as her truck pulled out of the driveway. If only I could just go to school for one period to let her know that I wasn't avoiding her. That would be too risky though. She would eventually begin to grow suspicious of me. Then I would eventually have to tell her about me.

Oh how I was dreading that day.

_No school for you? _Collin brought me out of my thoughts.

_Hey Brady_, Seth added in that sickeningly happy tone that always annoyed me. It was the morning, and being that happy at this time was just not normal,_ Shut up I could act just as bitter as _you_, but I choose not to. _

I ignored him and started heading for my house so I could take a shower. I should've known they would phase this morning. They always loved the fact that being a shape shifter meant that you could wake up later since it took less time to get to school if you just ran there.

_I have to discuss something with Sam, _more like test out my plan, _If Melody asks about me, then tell her I'm sick or something._

_Wow, what an original excuse. Not overused at all,_ Collin's sarcastic thoughts made me feel slightly worse. Great, if she saw through that excuse then instead of me being suspicious of her she would be suspicious of me. I hated that there were these two huge secrets between us even though I already technically knew about them. That wasn't the point though, because she has no idea that there's something I'm hiding too. At least I hope she has no idea.

_Don't worry about it man we got it covered, _I felt Seth phase out. From the image in his head he was pretty close to school.

_How the hell you guys even manage to do this so close to school without anyone seeing you completely naked is beyond me. _

I heard Collin laugh, _That's for us to know and for you to never find out. See you later man._

Then he left and I was completely alone. I sped up my pace so that I could get to my house faster. I had to make it seem like I was still going to school even though I wasn't. My mom couldn't figure out I was ditching or she would freak out.

As I ran, I tried the best that I could to stop thinking about who I was leaving behind at school. Melody would probably resent me for this, but in the long run she would know that I did it for her benefit. Well, it was partially for my benefit too since I couldn't stand to see her get hurt anymore.

Once I found the pair of cut off shorts on the familiar tree stump I claimed as my own personal closet, I phased and quickly put them on. Wasting no time at all, I ran up to the front door and grabbed the spare key that was hidden under the welcome mat. I opened the door and rushed inside, trying to make it look like I wasn't just running around half of La Push. I saw my mom in the kitchen as usual. My dad must've already been at work.

As soon as she saw me barefoot and without a shirt on she sighed, "Why do you always have to stay out all night long and come back with half of your clothes missing?"

I hated this conversation. It only meant that I had to lie to more people I loved, "I'm sorry mom, but I'm going to be late for school if I don't hurry," ignoring it was the best way that I could handle this today. I couldn't let this web of lies get any bigger right now.

I went straight to the bathroom and took a quick shower to get the mud out of my hair. Once I was finished I got a fresh t-shirt and a pair of shoes before I picked up my backpack. I had to make it look like I was going to be a good son today instead of the disappointing one she knew too well.

When I reached the kitchen all I felt was guilt. Her eyes were damp and her nose was red. She had been crying because of me. I hated hurting her. I wish that just this once Sam could make an exception for me and let me tell her everything that I am. I didn't want to make her cry anymore.

"I love you mom," I pulled her into a hug and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, "I promise I'll try to do better from now on."

"You mean you'll come home at night instead of staying out with Sam all the time?" she said in between sobs.

I felt the web of lies begin weaving itself again, "I'll try," that was all I could say. I couldn't admit that coming home was going to be even harder after this plan was set into place. She couldn't get her heart broken by me anymore.

She nodded when she pulled away, trying to muster up the best smile she could, "Go, you're going to be late."

I did as I was told, leaving her knowing that we were growing farther apart each time I lied to her. It wasn't ever going to get easier either. I was always going to have to be the son that disappoints her because of some stupid gene that I was born with.

It felt like it took me forever to finally get to Sam's house. My Chevelle definitely wasn't as fast as I was as a wolf. As if I had a choice in the matter. Leaving my house without my car would've made my mom get even more worried about me. It was too risky to even take into consideration.

I walked into the house feeling a little bit apprehensive about what Sam's reaction would be to my plan. The feeling grew even worse when I saw Embry, Quil, Jared, and Paul all sitting in the kitchen eating breakfast. Great, this is just what I need right now.

"Brady, aren't you supposed to be at school?" Emily asked as she set down a full plate of bacon.

The smell of it caused me to lose my train of thought for a moment, "I need to talk to Sam about something. Its way more important than school."

She smiled a half smile as the scars on her face pulled down one side of her mouth, "Something to do with Melody I'm assuming?"

I nodded, my stomach growling loudly as I stared at the food on the table.

All of the guys laughed, "Someone's stomach wants to talk for them," of course Embry had to make some stupid ass comment like that.

"Shut up," I elbowed him in the face as I took a few pieces of bacon off of the plate Emily just set down.

"Why don't you sit down and eat? There's plenty for you," Emily suggested.

"No there's not, he's not even supposed to be here," Paul growled. God he's so sensitive.

I ignored his remark, "Its ok Emily I'm not planning on staying."

She shrugged, "Suit yourself."

It seemed like it took Sam forever to finally haul his ass downstairs and into the kitchen. As Paul and Jared went off to patrol and Embry and Quil left to meet up with Jake, I went over what I was going to say in my head. He went over to Emily and gave her a small kiss before he focused his attention onto me.

"What the hell are you doing out of school?" Sam was way too strict about the whole school thing.

"I have a plan," I decided not to answer his question, "A plan that's going to help Melody."

He leaned up against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest, "It better be good."

I nodded, "It is," taking a few deep breaths I prepared myself to say it, "So I've been watching out for Melody and I've realized that just sitting there isn't helping anything," that was way too obvious, "I think that I have to do something while I'm a wolf to help her so she doesn't get hurt anymore."

"Alright, so what do you want to do?"

I just went right out and said it, "Her father's been trying to hunt me down lately," Sam shifted uncomfortably, "and I think that if I howl whenever he tries to hurt her then he'll focus on me instead of her and leave her alone."

I could see in Sam's eyes that he wasn't exactly thrilled about my plan. Believe me I wasn't thrilled either, but if it could keep Melody from suffering then I would do it without complaints.

"I don't know Brady; this guy has a gun-,"

"I know that," I interrupted, "He's constantly drunk Sam. He can barely even form a complete sentence let alone know exactly where he's shooting a gun. Plus, I'm so much faster than him that it'll be easy to escape."

He shook his head and I was semi-hoping that Emily would add some wise words right now to help me out. Of course, she was cleaning and acting as if she couldn't hear what we were talking about.

"You can't do it every day, kid. I won't allow it."

"Sam, this is Melody's only hope. If I can't do this one small thing for her then why did I even imprint on her?" I knew he was listening to me by the way his eyes travelled down to the floor, "I have to protect her from that monster or else something horrible is going to happen," I shuddered at the thought.

"Does this guy even have a hunting license?" he asked out of the blue.

I laughed without humor, "I highly doubt it."

"So why doesn't she just tell the police?"

That question pushed me over the edge. He was acting as if he didn't even care about Melody. It was as if she should just dump her problems on to someone else because he didn't want to deal with them. Why the hell are we called the freaking protectors of La Push if we can't do just that? I felt my body begin to shake as I filled up with rage.

"Calm down Brady," he fully put himself in front of Emily and put his hands on either of my shoulders, "I'm not saying I don't want to help."

I barely managed to calm down, "You can't force her to do something she doesn't want to do," even if I also thought that she should tell the police I wasn't going to push her into doing it.

"I know that just forget I said it ok?" I closed my eyes and stopped shaking, "I guess all I can say now is yes, but instead of it just being you watching over her," he paused for a second seeming as if he was really thinking about this decision, "it's going to be all of us."

"What?" I was completely dumbfounded.

"You heard me everyone's going to be a part of this. She's your imprint and I know if it was any of their imprints in that sort of situation then they would want you to do the same thing for them."

A small grin appeared on my face, "Thank you," that was all I could muster up. Now that it was out on the table I felt a tiny weight lifted off of me.

"No problem kid," he patted me on the shoulder, "Tonight I'm calling a meeting so you might as well just hang out here today."

I nodded, sitting down at the table and finally eating the food that was tempting me so badly.

* * *

We were all in the living room waiting for Sam to talk. Even though I already knew what he was going to say I didn't know how everyone else would react. As my foot tapped nervously on the floor everyone else seemed to be perfectly calm. I hate this feeling.

Sam finally walked into the room with that emotionless face he always seemed to wear in situations like this. That look never failed to piss me off.

"I made all of you come here because Brady brought something up to me this morning about his imprint, Melody," Almost everyone's eyes were on me right now. Great, "You all know the type of situation she's in and how critical it is," critical wasn't even a good word to use to describe it, "and he wants us to try and stop her from getting hurt anymore."

The pack was completely silent. I was annoyed that none of them had any sort of reaction yet.

"So, Brady thinks that since her dad has been trying to, well, hunt him lately then he could turn her father's attention off her and onto him instead."

"And how does he plan to do that?" Jake asked from the sidelines.

I stood up and spit it out, "If I hear him screaming at her or coming anywhere close to hurting her then I'll howl and he'll come out to try and catch me."

There was silence for a moment before Paul decided to put in his two cents, "Being shot at doesn't sound too appealing to me."

"Paul he's drunk most of the time I've seen him, so we'll always have the upper hand. We're also faster and a lot more coordinated."

More damn silence. I hated it with a burning passion.

"Look I'm not asking you to do anything drastic just watch over her maybe one night a week and I'll do the rest," I looked at all of their faces, "I can't let this go on any longer. Now that she finally let me in I won't let him touch her."

Sam decided to take over, "We protect our res and the people on it. Melody needs our help and if you're going to deny that then you're betraying what you were made for."

That was the support I needed. If any of this was going to work then I needed all of them to have that same mindset.

"I'm in," Collin stated, "She deserves better than what she gets."

The next thing I knew Seth, Embry, Quil, Jake, Leah, and even Jared were saying the same exact thing. The only one that was harder to budge was Paul. He had a temper, but I didn't think he would be so drastic as to not help someone in need.

"Come on Paul, it's just one night a week," I was practically begging, "Besides wouldn't it be kind of fun to confuse the hell out of this stupid bastard? Not to mention overpowering him since he thinks he's oh so high and fucking mighty."

He chuckled, "Alright fine. I'll help."

So it was set. She would be fully protected. I wish that she could be here right now to know that she didn't have to be afraid anymore. Instead, she was probably starting to hate me for missing school today instead. Oh what a great feeling that was.

* * *

That night I went to her house with Sam to make sure that it would work out the way we hoped. I waited at the edge of the tree line and listened closely as the usual nightly events unfolded. She was currently making dinner which smelled like some sort of beef to me. All I knew was that I wanted to go in there and eat it just because she made it.

Sam laughed at me, _You're acting just like I did when I first smelled Emily's cooking. _

_I should've eaten something before I left your house._

He shook his head in disappointment, _You did._

Our conversation was interrupted by the usual screaming I heard from her father after Melody gave him food. It was just like any other time except Sam was here to witness it in person for the first time.

_He's going to hit her, _I growled.

His scent was what was pissing me off. It was completely covering up Melody's vanilla scent. What an asshole.

_Do it. Once he spots us just take off running got it?_

_Got it, _my claws dug into the earth as the screaming escalated into the sound of things being broken. That's when I finally did it. I howled as loud as possible so practically everyone in that house had to hear it. All at once the yelling stopped and the only thing I heard was frantic footsteps moving around in the house and Melody's heartbeat speeding up.

The next thing I knew he was coming out of the back door with that dumb shotgun in his hands just like I had planned.

Sam growled beside me and I imitated him, _Let him see us first._

I wish I could just tackle him and rip his throat out. Anyone knows he out of all people deserves it. He was the biggest pile of shit alive. I wanted to show him just how powerful I was and tear him limb from limb. As he got closer to us all I could think about was how much pain I wanted him to feel, how I wish I could kill him-

_Run!_

I stopped thinking and sprinted in the other direction not once looking back. Everything whizzed past me as I put all of my strength into my running, trying to go as fast as possible. The only thing I was thinking was that she had to be ok. Tonight she was going to be safe from the pain. I didn't stop my running until I completely lost any sign of his disgusting scent and let an image of her take over my thoughts.

My head dropped low as I took a moment to think about what just happened. He wasn't even close to catching us. I couldn't rejoice much over the fact that my plan worked because I kept thinking that he could possibly try to hurt her another time. She wasn't going to be too safe if he tried it again, _We might have to go back Sam. Just in case. _

I could see in his thoughts that hearing what she went through in person was worse than what he saw in my head. It took him a minute to focus on what I just said, _Let's go. _

I met up with him and we started to head back towards her house, waiting for him to dare to challenge us again.

* * *

I slept in my wolf form again in that same place, barely hidden by the trees. He tried to hurt her two more times before it finally stopped. Her cries began haunting me the moment Sam left me alone. I couldn't get the sound of her fear out of my head. Well, at least she wouldn't have to suffer anymore. That was the only thing that allowed me to fall asleep.

The next day I barely even bother to go home and reassure my parents that I was ok. All I did was step inside of the house for about five minutes and say a quick hello and goodbye. I tried not to think about what my mom's face must've looked like when she realized I wasn't coming back. Making everything even worse, I could tell by the way Melody carried herself this morning as she got ready that she was disappointed in me. Even the way she reluctantly pulled out of the driveway made her seem like she was hoping that I would somehow be there for her.

I felt like shit knowing that I wasn't going to be able to do that for her.

After two days I thought that maybe by today she would give up on me. That didn't seem to be the case when I saw her pacing in her room that night calling someone. I could only think that she was calling my phone, and I wouldn't pick up, disappointing her even more. She finally sat in her window seat and for the first time in three days I got a good look at her beautiful face. Her phone was stuck to her ear like glue as she seemed to look directly at me.

"Hello?" I could just hear my mom's voice on the other end as she jumped at the sound. I laughed at how easily she was startled.

"Hi Mrs. Greene? It's Melody."

"Oh Melody! How are you dear?" at least my mom sounded happy for now.

An amazing smile lit up Melody's face, "I'm ok I was just wondering if Brady was there by any chance?"

Then, as if she was hoping to see me again, her eyes landed on me. I was surprised that she could even see me.

"No, I'm sorry Melody he's not. Would you like to leave a message for him? I could tell him to call you when he gets back."

I shifted uncomfortably as her face seemed to fall, "No that's ok, I guess I'll just see him in school, uh, sometime. Thank you though."

"No problem dear. It was nice talking to you."

If only I could tell her that she was looking straight at me. She would probably freak out if that happened though.

"Nice talking to you too, have a good night."

"You too," I tried to ignore how my mother's tone suddenly changed. It was the disappointed one she used on me when I came home this morning.

We both kept staring at each other for a minute until she surprised me by ripping open that window and scaling that tree like it was the easiest thing in the world. The pull tugged on me, begging me to get closer to her. Even if I did get closer to her I had to be cautious. Now that she _knew_ me I couldn't risk her seeing my eyes.

"You've been saving me," she tried getting as close to me as she could, but I took two steps back in fear that she would figure out it was me, "No, don't go," that tone was what set me over the edge, "I just wanted to thank you that's all," even though she was so close to me I didn't even try to look at her face, and it killed me not to. I could only think that I was glad she appreciated what I was doing for her.

"If only you could answer the question for me, then maybe I wouldn't be feeling so hopeless right now."

I grunted and pressed my nose to her hand, calming down slightly because I was touching her. She began to scratch my neck and I didn't even try to protest. I wondered what she meant by her last statement. What question was she talking about? I don't even remember anything about a question. The only thing that seemed to click was that she tried calling me and was extremely frustrated when I didn't pick up. Maybe something on my phone?

I stepped away from her and tried to focus again. I wanted to get home so I could check to see if she left anything for me on my phone, but I had to see her first. I barely even looked up at her to see how beautiful she looked. I got a short glimpse of her green eyes, and before I could be pulled back into a trance, I ran away as fast as I could.

For tonight, I decided I should give my parents a break and sleep at home. The only reason why I had to stay is because I needed to check my phone. Otherwise, I would be back at her house watching over her.

As soon as I was in my room without anyone to disturb me I grabbed my phone and laid down on my bed to check my messages. My heart sunk when I saw all of them plus a missed call. That must've been from tonight.

**Where are you?**

**I can't believe you're not in school again! **

**Hello? **

**What's going on with you?**

**Why can't you just pick up the damn phone? I really need to talk to you.**

The last one was the worst, **You're not in school today and your friends say you're sick, but I don't know how to believe them. If you could just answer this question then I'll be ok. Do you regret what happened yesterday?**

Of course she couldn't believe them. They are the worst liars I know.

I doubted that if I texted her back then she would even see my message because she seemed so sick of me, but I did it anyways. I wrote up the best answer for her I could give.

Looking over the text, I hit the send button and closed my phone. I had to go to school tomorrow before she changes her mind about me. Who knows though, she could already hate me.

* * *

I contemplated whether or not I should just go up to her at her locker now or wait until I got to physics. Just standing here watching her wasn't helping my self control at all. She hasn't even noticed that I'm here yet. Maybe I should just wait.

A small grin appeared on her face and that was all it took for me to walk right up behind her. As she was about to shut her locker I put my hands around her eyes, trying not to sound as nervous as I felt when I talked.

"Guess who?" I said like the idiot I really was. This was a stupid idea.

Her heartbeat sped up when she knew it was me, "The guy who's been MIA for the past three days."

I could hear it in her voice how hurt she was by my disappearance. As I took my hands off of her face I was almost taken aback when she turned around and looked at me. I wanted to tell her so bad that I was never far away, I was always looking out for her.

The only thing I could say was how much I hated being away from her, "You don't know how sorry I am."

She didn't miss a beat when she spoke, "No, I don't. What I do know is that you never even bothered to answer my ten million texts," I should've fully expected this, "Not to mention you never picking up the phone when I called. I mean honestly Brady," I couldn't take it anymore I had to show her how deeply I felt for her, "if you regret everything that happened the other day why didn't you just come-,"

So what did I do? I kissed her just because I missed the way it felt so much, and it was perfect. I could tell how much we were meant for each other just from the way our lips fit perfectly together.

When I pulled away I couldn't help but grin. I had missed that too much, "You were saying?"

She tried to regain her breath, "Where the hell have you been?"

Obviously my text was never received, "I swear I texted you last night right after-," shit I can't say that. Shut up right now before you say something you'll regret.

I could tell that she knew I was supposed to say more. Thankfully, she let it go easily as she checked her phone to see what I meant.

Her eyes widened a little, "I guess you did."

"So, am I off the hook?" please just say yes. I can't stand you being mad at me anymore.

Melody surprised me by laughing. I love that she feels so comfortable around me now, "Not even close. First, you have to explain to me why you weren't in school, and second," she seemed to tense up a bit, "I really need to talk to you after school."

I didn't exactly know how to respond. This wasn't a moment I was expecting to happen for a while. Did she really trust me enough already to tell me about that?

"Ok, whatever you want," I said, trying to cover up my surprise and focus on something else. That's when I saw it. The birthday present I gave to her was now residing on her wrist. I couldn't be happier, "You're wearing it."

"I have been ever since you gave it to me," I laced my hand with hers knowing for the first time that she felt for me exactly what I felt for her, "but don't try to change the subject. Why weren't you in school?"

I tried to keep this simple, "I was sick," after I said it, it didn't sound like enough. Collin was right I should've come up with a better excuse.

She didn't believe me again. I was definitely _not_ ready for my secret to come out today even if she was suspicious.

"You could've at least called. Actually, you should've just come to school and infected everyone. I would've preferred that since I have too much on my mind right now."

I was flattered by how much she wanted me to be here with her. Its weird how much I underestimated her feelings for me, "Well, you can tell me whatever you need to after school. I'll just sit there and listen," I reassured her by kissing her on the cheek, feeling completely calm by having her so close to me.

The day was uneventful and painfully slow. I could tell by the way Melody acted in every class we had together that she could only focus on what was going to happen after school. I couldn't pinpoint why she was so nervous, but I just wanted to tell her that I had already found a way for her to not have to be afraid anymore and that I was never going to leave her alone now.

When the last bell finally rang I knew how nervous she was by the way everyone left the room and she was still sitting in her seat. I actually found that a little bit humorous.

"Are you planning on getting up?" I asked, trying to keep the atmosphere light.

She stood up and sighed and didn't bother to look at me. I tried not to stress her out anymore than she was by talking her ear off. I just let her stay quiet as we walked in the hallway. As I was waiting for her to get her books I came right out and said it.

"You know you can tell me anything," I watched her face closely.

"Yeah but this isn't just anything."

She needs to know that I'm never going to leave her. I wish I could spit it out right now and tell her that not even this secret can keep us apart. All I really did was bob my head up and down and let her lead me out of the school. We walked out of the parking lot and farther away from everyone else until we were completely alone. I didn't question any of it, letting her do her own thing and tell me on her own time.

When she finally stopped walking and turned towards me I could tell how much she was contemplating in her head how to go about this.

"Mel, don't be afraid to talk to me. Just say it," I encouraged her.

She waited a minute or two before nodding and starting it off, "I don't exactly know how to exactly say this gently, so I think I'm just going to spit it out," I stayed silent and waited patiently for her to continue, "On my birthday I told you I got hurt from falling down the stairs," she looked up at me, "and when I came over to your house I told you I cut my hand on a plate that I accidentally dropped."

I tried to make it as clear as possible that I was listening to her.

Finally, she got right on with it, "None of that ever happened," I squeezed her hand, feeling proud of her for trusting me so much, "The only memories I have as a kid is getting," she seemed to choke up a bit, "getting beaten by my father."

Her eyes trailed away from me as she went on, "My brother was always the one to get the worst of it. He would try to protect me. I guess he just couldn't take it anymore so he just…gave up. I've never known my mom because she's never exactly been in my life. Work has always been her top priority."

Never in a million years did I think she would go into detail about everything she's been through like this.

To my disappointment she kept going on, "I don't exactly know why he hurts me so much, but I'm pretty sure half of its alcohol and the other half's just hatred for ever having me. I'm not even sure as to why he started drinking so much in the first place. He hated his life? I don't know but I've grown up getting my bones broken and my stomach bruised because of it. I've been raised to know that I'm a piece of crap that means nothing," I stupidly let my temper get the best of me and felt a growl build up in my chest, letting it slightly slip out of my mouth. Stupid wolf gene.

"I have to lie all the time just so that I don't get hurt even more by him," tears filled her eyes, "I've had to listen to him tell me that my brother's death was a good thing. I'm ignored by my mother whenever I do see her and lately the only reason I want to live anymore is because I met you," she stopped for a few minutes, and I just waited for it to be over. I couldn't stand hearing this anymore. It was killing me, "If you think I'm crazy and stupid then that's fine I can live with that. Just don't even think of telling anyone else what I just told you."

That's when I got confused. As if I could ever think that. She was so wrong about what I thought of her that I couldn't stop staring at her in disbelief. My mouth wouldn't move to form any words that would reassure her of my feelings for her. Even when she seemed like she was going to walk away right then and there I didn't say anything. I just watched as her back turned and soft sobs filled up the air.

I couldn't stand to see her cry anymore.

Putting myself right in front of her, I wrapped my arms around her as if to shield her from the rest of the world. I pleaded in my head for her to stop crying.

"You don't have to stay if you don't want to."

She so easily assumed that I was going to leave her alone after that. I can't even wrap my head around how much she doubts me.

"You're nuts if you think I'm leaving you," I laughed and placed my hands on her soft cheeks, trying to make all of her sadness go away by wiping her cheeks dry.

"You don't hate me?" she questioned.

As if that could ever happen, "No," I looked at her firmly in the eyes, "What I feel for you is the farthest thing from hate."

That was the complete and total truth, and I had absolutely no other way to sum up my feelings for her than to say that. Melody had to believe it now. She had to know that I was completely and totally falling in love with her.

"So, you're going to stay?"

"I'm going to do more than that. I'm going to make sure he never lays a hand on you again," if only she knew that that was already happening. That the wolf she thought was saving her was actually me. If only I had the courage to tell her my secret right now.

"I swear I don't deserve you," she seemed like she actually believed that.

I rolled my eyes at how untrue that was, letting my actions speak for me by pressing our lips together. She fully trusted me now, and I finally found a way to protect her from that monster. You would think that things could only go up from here. Right now, I would hope so. The only thing I'm afraid of is that she could find out that I was actually the one that pulled her out of the water when she jumped off of the cliff. Then, she would have to figure out what I was and what imprinting was. I can only pray that I'll have enough time to explain everything to her before that happens.

**Ok so from here on out there's going to be a lot of (insert Paul's voice here) mushiness. Sorry Paul likes to insert himself into my other stories. What an ass...but hey as long as he's here you guys should check out the sequel to Best Friends No More. The name is Once A Friend, Always Your Love and it's gonna be pretty epic. **

**on the other hand what did you think of Brady? He's pretty damn hot right? Just kidding I need mental help...just kidding I'm not crazy...**

**hope you all enjoyed it! It was pretty long I know but maybe that's a good thing? **

**Dinner bell is ringing...I'm a redneck didn't you know? Just kidding I'm a cool kid.**

**byeeeeee! Leave a review! :)**

**~KK**


	21. 19 Walk Through the Pits of Hell For You

**Hey everyone! I am sorry that I have not posted another update in over a month. My schedule has become even busier now that I just got a new job. It's been kind of hard juggling everything lately and I'm sorry that I have let my stories slip to the back burner for a little. Don't worry I am still going to update. **

**This chapter has been in my head for the longest time. I did not really edit much of the end, but I will do that tomorrow hopefully so if there are any mistakes then I'm sorry. **

**Hope you enjoy this one! :)**

Song for this Chapter- Just a Kiss by Lady Antebellum

Chapter 19

I'd Walk Through The Pits of Hell For You

I didn't ever think that this could happen to me, that I would actually be in this position. I never even tried to dream about letting down all of my walls for someone on the outside. I was facing my worst fears head on today and I didn't know that I would be letting two secrets out in this short amount of time.

You would think that he wouldn't want to drive all the way out to Port Angeles just to take me to see my therapist. On the other hand you would probably just call me crazy for telling him that I'm seeing a shrink. Well, it sort of just happened when he got into the driver's seat of my car and refused to leave me out of his sight. It was a little bit difficult to tell him that he had to or else I would go insane because there was too much rattling around in my brain and I had to let it out to my therapist. All he did was sit there with his hands on the steering wheel for about five minutes looking dumbfounded while I just sank in my seat. And like every other time I ever revealed something about myself to him he didn't judge me. He only said a quick sorry and asked for directions.

Weird? Yes.

Nice? Of course.

Shocking that he's out here picking me up in the same exact spot he dropped me off at? Completely.

I gave him a crazy look as I sat in the passenger's seat with my red journal in my lap.

"What's wrong?" he smirked at my furrowed eyebrows.

"Did you wait out here the whole time?" I looked at the clock on the radio. I had been in there for almost an hour and a half.

"Not really, I drove around a bit."

Without another word he started up the engine and pulled out of the parking lot. As we passed some stores and a bunch of trees I couldn't keep my lips from twitching upward. I had never felt like someone cared for me so much before. I know that Noah did, but not like this of course. It was different to have someone who wasn't my brother drive around Port Angeles and wait for me to get done with therapy like Brady did.

"So, how was it?" he asked out of the blue.

I felt my smile fade a little, that question took a little bit of thought to answer, "It was refreshing to get everything off of my chest. I think I would burst if I didn't have Olivia to vent to."

He chuckled and laid his open palm down onto the arm rest of my seat. I calmly took his hand, noticing how odd it was that my fingers fit so perfectly into each tiny space between his own.

"You know you can vent to me anytime you want to. I'm here for you," Brady's eyes landed on me for a second before focusing back on the road.

"I know, I just think she's a lot more professional about it," I joked.

He shook his head in disagreement, "Nah, I got my degree before she did I'm sure."

The laughter that was building up inside of me finally made its way out of my mouth. I felt so free when I laughed like this. It was so rare and special that I just wanted to stay in this truck with him with my hand linked with his and never leave.

When my laughter grew silent I stared at the small dimple that was carved into the side of his face by the grin he was wearing. Why couldn't everything in life be as simple and enjoyable as laughing? Or better yet, laughing with someone who was too amazing for words.

I wanted to be able to look at everything through Brady's perspective instead of my own. He had so much going for him right now while the only thing I had going for me was, well, having him. I wanted to have more than one thing in my life that was going perfectly. Was it too much to ask for?

"Smile Mel," I looked up into his eyes that were only concentrating on me and barely even on the road anymore, "Everything's going to get so much better."

I mustered up a small grin, "Promise?"

He nodded and clutched my hand even tighter when he looked back at the road, "I promise. I am never going to let you frown again."

I didn't even try to stop the giggle that escaped from my lips, "Isn't that taking it a little bit too far?"

He scoffed, "Hell no," something had triggered my body to shiver when he looked at me again. He looked so determined to make this happen. I on the other hand didn't think this would work too well.

"Can we bet on this?"

Now it was his turn to laugh, "Go ahead, I'll win."

"Twenty bucks says I'll frown in the next thirty seconds."

I could barely tell that we were now heading through Forks. It was almost time for us to be apart again. I hated the thought of it so much. He was going to leave me alone with that monster, and everything that happened today would seem like a dream.

With that thought in the back of my mind, I started to force my mouth to turn into a frown.

"Ok fine. Bets off, but I'm not backing down on my promise."

I chuckled, trying to get my proper dosage before I had to live without it for the rest of the day.

"That's fine. I think I can live with that."

The smile remained firmly on my face as we finally managed to reach the reservation. We passed the beach in silence, and I could only imagine that he was dreading leaving me alone in that house as much as I was dreading being away from him. I tried to stay strong and not break down as we went down my street. As that hideous house came into view my worried thoughts were brought to a standstill from what, or rather who I saw.

"Expecting a visitor?" Brady asked from the sidelines. Everything I was worrying about ten minutes ago washed away when I saw her leaning up against her car, arms crossed over her torso. As my truck came to a stop in the driveway, I immediately wanted to rewind back to when I was cracking jokes with Brady and didn't have a care in the world.

Now, all I could do was ask, what the hell is Cynthia doing here at my house? She knew not to come here and what would happen if she did.

Brady untangled his hand from mine and cut the engine, making me feel unsafe and scared of what Cynthia could possibly want. It had to be something extremely important for her to come here.

"Are you alright?" Brady's voice made my mini heart attack stop for a moment. I turned my head towards him and tried not to think about who was waiting for me out there.

"I don't know," I admitted, feeling a bit queasy.

"Do you want me to stay with you?" his expression quickly changed from content to confused. While his warm hand cupped my cheek gently I tried to come up with an answer for him. I desperately wanted him to stay here and relieve me from whatever she wanted from me, but I couldn't let him get involved in this mess. He didn't deserve to be caught up in the whole Logan and Cynthia situation right now.

"No, I'll be fine," lie.

He nodded and looked straight at her as he opened the door. I mimicked his movements and cautiously stepped out into the humid air, trying to stay strong even though I knew I would be alone with her in two minutes. I glanced at her as she seemed to be frozen in place staring at Brady like he was the black plague.

"Call me if something happens," my eyes focused back on his face and even though he was three inches away from me I wanted him closer.

"I will," I replied.

He pressed his lips against my temple for a few seconds before pulling me into a tight embrace. I kept my arms wrapped around him so I could feel safe and secure for just a few more seconds. Then, without warning my security was ripped away from me.

"I'll see you later," he took a few steps backward and gave one more look at Cynthia who was still frozen in the same spot.

I gave him a quick smile before he finally turned around and started walking, "What are you doing?" I shouted as he got farther away, trying to ignore the fact that someone was waiting for me.

"Walking," he glanced at me over his shoulder.

"Why don't you just take my truck?" I suggested.

He shook his head and carried on, "I'd rather walk."

I furrowed my brows in confusion, staring at his back as his figure slowly disappeared out of sight.

Something clammy grabbed my wrist and I jumped in surprise, whipping around and almost colliding with her. I barely even noticed that a single tear was trickling down the side of her face.

"So it's true?" her voice didn't sound like normal. It sounded as if her nose was slightly clogged and she had been crying prior to her visit.

"What's true?" I retorted.

"You're really going out with Brady?"

I shrugged, "Sort of."

Cynthia finally let go of my arm and took a single step back, "You know everyone's been spreading rumors about you," perfect, I loved being the center of attention as much as I loved being here with her right now, "they keep saying you're joining the La Push gang because you're trying to fill some void after Noah kill-,"

"Did you really come here just to tell me all of this bullshit?" my happiness was running very thin. I wanted to push her right into her car and force her to leave me alone. Being told that you're the latest gossip around the school is not something I really need to hear right now.

She shook her head and sighed, closing her eyes as yet another tear rolled down her cheek, "No, I didn't. I'm sorry I just," she paused, "I really need to talk to you. I'm pretty much freaking out and I don't know what to do."

Just then, an eruption of emotions spilled out of her. By the way she got upset I knew something really bad must have happened. She has always been strong, even at Noah's funeral she was the one that had to keep Logan from falling apart. This was a side I had never seen of her before. It made me afraid to hear what she was going to say.

"What is it?" I said it quickly, fearing that if I didn't get it out now I would never be able to.

Cynthia finished her outburst and tried to compose herself to tell me. I watched as she dug into her purse and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

"I found this in my locker after school," she extended her shaky hand and I warily took it from her. As I unfolded the paper I noticed a bunch of scribbled words on it, and when it was finally open I was close to letting it fall to the ground.

"Wha-,"

"Just read it!" she demanded.

I shook my head, "This has to be some kind of joke."

Her hands grabbed both of my shoulders, "Melody, it's not a joke. I wouldn't be standing here all upset about it if it was!"

If that was true, then I could only imagine how upset I will be after I read what seems to be a letter. A letter that was addressed to Cynthia from none other than-

"No take it away," I pushed the paper back into her hands and got ready to run into the house, "I can't read this."

As I quickly made my way up the steps I felt my knees begin to get a little wobbly.

"He wants you to read it Mel," she said and I stupidly stopped, "It even says it in here. He needs you to see this."

I didn't turn around, "I'm not ready for this."

"And you think I was when I first saw it?"

I closed my eyes and ordered myself to stay strong, that this was only the beginning of a long night. I had to get through this because_ he_ wanted me to. My teeth clamped down on my tongue and held it steady so that I wouldn't scream.

I wish I could have Brady here, because then I would probably find this an easy task. Right now it seemed anything but that.

Breathing in and out through my nose, I walked back to where she stood. She gave me the letter again and I opened it up, mentally telling my hands to stop shaking. I absorbed the words that were written on that paper and held my breath as I read it.

_Cynthia,_

_I know you're going to assume that this is some sort of suicide note when you find this, don't worry it isn't anything along those lines. I need you to know something that Logan's been hiding from you and just about everyone else…except for me. I wish I could say that this is going to be some simple secret, but it's practically the opposite of that. It is going to be a lot to take in, so just breathe for me, got it? Good. _

I found it hard to read the rest because just knowing this is something he wrote before he died had me falling apart. I was so prone to breaking down that it seems to be routine for me lately.

Unwillingly, I kept going on, trying to keep my emotions intact for now.

_Before I go through with this today and I no longer have the chance to, I have to tell you that Logan is ruining his life more and more lately. I've been worried about him for a while, and I've noticed that he's been drinking more frequently. After I die, I'm sure he will take this even further and possibly harm himself, and I don't want you to lose him if he takes it too far. _

_Now, this is the hard part. You might want to sit down for this if you chose to wait and read this letter at home. If not, then just brace yourself. _

_Logan has been having trouble with some drugs, particularly heroin. He tells me he's not addicted to it all the time, but the signs are all there. Maybe you've noticed it too and just passed it off as something else. I know you're trying to convince yourself that he wouldn't do that, but he is and I can't let him go on like this. All I am asking you to do is tell his parents and work with them to get him some help or else he'll end up where I am right now. _

_There's only one more thing I need you to do and thankfully this is easy. You have to make my sister read this. I need her to know that my death was neither her fault nor Logan's. So, she should just shut her damn mouth and stop blaming him. _

Despite my puffy eyes and my red nose, I managed to quietly laugh. He would say something like that.

_And whenever you do read this Mel, you have to know that I'm ok. This was my choice and I do not regret it even though I'm sorry I left you so abruptly. Don't hate me too much ok? Love ya sis. And Cynthia you're an amazing friend thank you for that. _

_Better not be seeing any of you here soon,_

_Noah_

I didn't react as the thunder roared above me. The air felt eerily cool even though there was a storm heading straight for La Push. I wanted to say something to Cynthia, but couldn't find the words. I waited to feel my head hit the concrete because I was sure I was going to fall over.

"I had no idea any of this was going on," her voice didn't affect me at all. I didn't even want to think about saying anything back to her. His voice was in my head reading over the letter again and I couldn't even try to concentrate on anything else but that.

"We need to do what he says," Cynthia's voice was quiet and timid, "Noah's right, he's going to take it too far and I can't let that happen."

"Ok," I don't know how I managed to make that come out of me. I was convinced that any moment I would just faint.

"I'm sorry," she must've noticed that I was totally out of it because she started heading for her car again, "I know this is hard for you and I just came here to show you that. Once you've taken it all in just," she paused as she opened the door, "just call me and we can talk about what to do ok?"

I stared at the lightning that lit up the sky, wishing that I could erase my memory of the last few minutes. She didn't wait for my response as she got into her car and drove away, leaving me there alone to deal with this.

Crumpling up the paper in my hand, I walked up the porch and latched my hand onto the door knob. I stood there for a couple minutes, his voice still haunting me with the words he wrote the day he killed himself. My hand twisted the handle and I was faced with just another layer of hell that would add onto the endless pile.

* * *

I stood in the doorframe to the room where everything belonged to him. The tears were dripping off of my face and onto the carpet, making no sort of sound as they collided with the fabric. I kept trying to convince myself that the monster was nowhere near me, but my feet were still stapled to the floor.

_He's outside going after the wolf again! Hurry your ass up and get in the room already!_

My brain was only partially telling me the truth. He was trying to hunt down_ a_ wolf, but it wasn't _the_ wolf. I could tell by the howl that it wasn't him. Was it strange that now multiple wolves seemed to be protecting me from my father?

I shook away the thoughts and willed my fingers to turn the lights on and when the whole room was lit up, I felt like I was staring straight into the sun. My eyes were forced to close with the sight of all of his things, but I put my nonexistent sunglasses on and obliged myself to look.

Everything was in the same spot he left it that day. The bed sheets were messed up like always, his new pack of nicotine gum was on his dresser, and clothes completely covered the ground.

I grabbed a few of his t-shirts off of the floor and immediately put them right up to my nose. Taking in his scent, I let my tears drip onto the cotton. As I cleared a path for myself I tried not to let myself become overwhelmed by all of the posters and various personal knick knacks that covered his walls and swarmed his dresser. Without giving it any thought, I let myself collapse onto his bed.

The black sheets completely engulfed me and for a moment I was able to imagine Noah here in the room with me. I can picture the two of us strewn across the bed, listening to music together to drown out the sound of our parents bickering like we always used to do. I wanted those simple moments that I took for granted back. I practically needed them in order to think about something like what just happened.

There was so much wrapped up in that letter and I was just now being able to really understand everything he said. I couldn't tell if I was reassured or set back by what was directed towards me. He told me he's ok, so why can't I just stop getting so upset all the time and let him go?

My own words made my stomach churn. I can't let my own brother go. And he asked me not to hate him for what he did. God there are so many times when I want to.

I grabbed his pillow from beside me and stuffed my face in it, screaming my lungs out until my vocal chords were sick of making the sound. It helped me relieve a bit of stress that was building up, but it was going to take a lot more than that to make all of this go away.

I heard the door slam downstairs, causing the picture frame on his dresser to shake. I took the pillow off of my head and let my gaze travel to that picture of us two in Seattle. Quickly, I got up off of the bed, feeling dizzy as I grabbed the bronze colored frame. I remembered to turn the lights off and close the door as I hurried into my room and locked the door. Just then, another door opened but it closed with much less force than the other one did.

My cheek rested up against the door and I could just hear my parents' voices downstairs. Mom was home which meant tonight they were going to fight yet again. I grabbed a fistful of my hair, dropping the picture onto the ground. I forced more salt water to fall as I squeezed my eyes shut. Before the brawl could begin I had a small melt down and repeatedly hit my head against the wood of my door, hoping that I could find something to save me from this. I didn't need to deal with their stupid fights when I already had so much to worry about.

When I finally heard their voices grow into full out screams I picked up the picture and trudged my way over to my window seat. The rain that pelted down onto the window barely masked the sound of their voices. I didn't have the energy in me to go and get my iPod right now.

The only thing I had to keep my mind off of my parents was the picture in my hands. I traced my finger over the frame of it and tried to relive this day in my head.

It was just like any other time we went to Seattle. We went to the park and got a quick snack at the Cherry Street Coffee House. I got a chai tea while he just got black coffee. It was a tradition for us to both get a lemon poppy seed muffin. I remember the first time we came here and my brother pointed out that it looked like there were little bugs all over the muffin. I found it hilarious that he would make that connection, so I told him that I would get it so I could check eating a bug muffin off of my bucket list. He decided to do the same and we did the same thing ever since then.

An annoying tapping noise on my window made my vivid memories fade away. The noise was constant and I stared at the window, wondering if I was just imaging the sound. The logical answer to what it was would be hail or just really loud rain, but once I realized it looked like small pebbles were being deliberately thrown at the glass I became curious. I stared out into the black, looking into the tree branches. There were no squirrels that could've done this.

I yelped at the sound of another pebble being thrown at my window. Feeling irritated that I actually got scared I pulled open the window and stuck my head out to see if something was out there.

"Melody!"

My eyes widened at the sound of that voice I knew all too well. I stared down at the source and almost gasped at the sight of him.

"Brady?" I thought that maybe I was dreaming all of this. I honestly was ready to pinch myself to try and wake up.

"Can I come up?" he looked desperate out there, standing in the rain soaking wet.

I shook my head, "What?" I have to be dreaming.

He laughed and my body tingled just at the sound of it. Before I could say anything else he was climbing up the tree and appeared right in front of my face. Damn I never knew someone could climb a tree that fast. Or maybe I'm just unnaturally slow at tree climbing.

"Watch out!" he warned, and I jumped up off of the window seat, doing as I was told. He flung himself into my room without any effort at all and I stood back, trying to tell my brain that he was real.

Once he was standing right in front of me my eyes focused on the fact that he was only wearing shorts and he was dripping rain water from head to toe.

As he approached me I was completely stunned that he was actually here, in my room, shirtless. When I heard my parents' screaming in the background I realized what was wrong with this picture.

"What are you doing? You can't be here!" I freaked out and felt my heart begin to speed up. At any moment they could come in here and then I would be screwed.

"I had a feeling," he replied, fixing his eyes on me.

"What kind of feeling?" I rushed to my door and listened to their fighting.

"A feeling that you needed me here," his voice kept getting closer and when I finally turned around he was practically pinning me up against the wall, "Your eyes are all red," he started to bring his hand up towards my face and I bowed my head so he couldn't see them anymore.

"I'm ok."

"Are you really?" I suddenly felt a few drops of water fall onto my arms.

I tried to changed the subject so I wouldn't have to get into this, "If they see you I'm dead."

"They're not going to see me," he brought his face down so that it was level with mine, "I'm staying and you can't make me leave."

I rolled my eyes dramatically, "If only you didn't have so many muscles," I snuck a peek at his "washboard abs" before looking back into his eyes, "If you insist on staying then I must warn you that you're stepping into the pits of hell."

His wet hand grabbed my own, "Well then you should know that I'd walk through the pits of hell just for you."

As his face leaned in to kiss me I placed my index finger on his lips to stop him, "Let me get you a towel or something before you do that."

He pulled away abruptly, "No, I'm fine. You don't have to go out there."

"I'll be alright as long as they stay downstairs," I twisted the door knob to go out, but his blazing hot hand wrapped around my wrist and stopped me. You could clearly hear that they were nowhere near my room, and yet Brady was still freaking out more than I was.

"I don't want you to get hurt," his voice sounded desperate, like he was honestly terrified of what would happen if I was out of his sight.

"I won't get hurt if I hurry," I showed him that I was confident about going out there, and my face must've been convincing because the next thing I knew he was slowly letting go of me.

"Don't be gone too long."

I opened the door again and slipped out into the hallway. I could tell that they were still fighting in the living room, but I walked on the tip of my toes just to be sure they wouldn't hear me. When I made it into the bathroom I grabbed two towels and scanned over myself in the mirror for just a second. Needless to say I looked pretty hideous, but I really had no time to try and fix myself now.

I quickly made my way towards my brother's room. I stood motionless in the doorway, trying to figure out whether or not I really should do this. Brady really needed fresh clothes. Plus, he's probably freezing and I have no idea how long he's staying. I forced myself to become immune to everything that happened earlier and picked up one of my brother's old t-shirts and a pair of his sweatpants. I wasn't too sure how well this would fit Brady, but it would have to do. Right now I didn't have much time to be picky.

I tried not to be affected by the clear scent of smoke that eminated from the clothes. In fact, the thought of it completely left my mind when I ran right into my father.

"I told you to stay out of that damn room you disrespectful little bitch!"

And the next moment my face was stinging in pain from the hand he just slapped across my face. He raised his hand again to give me another swat when my mother's figure suddenly appeared at the top of the staircase.

"Would you leave her alone? We have more important issues to talk about right now!" she shouted as she headed towards us.

His hand slowly fell to his side, "Shut the fuck up! I'll do whatever the fuck I want!"

Now that his focus was on her I was able to sneak past the two of them and run back down the hallway. I opened that door and slammed it shut so fast that I practically fell down to the floor, my breathing becoming heavy.

"Melody?" Brady was now kneeling in front of me, his eyes searching my face for any indication as to what happened, "Did he hit you?"

My head moved frantically from side to side, "Just leave it alone Brady."

As his hand grabbed my jaw I tried to become numb to the pain. When he turned my head to the side and saw my cheek I felt his hand begin to tremble, "Oh God I'm so sorry. I can't believe I let this happen!" a low growl came out of his mouth, "I knew I shouldn't have let you go out there."

While he spoke his whole body only seemed to shake more and more. The last time this happened he got really angry and beat the crap out of Ethan. Not to mention him scaring me half to death. I couldn't let that happen again, not here.

"Brady calm down-,"

"I told you I wouldn't let him lay a hand on you again and now look!"

It seemed like his whole figure became a quivering blur the more furious he got. I put my hands on his face and tried to get him to look at me, but his focus was on something completely different. He was only thinking about who was currently out in the hallway fighting a pointless battle with my mother.

"I'm going to kill him!" he rose up and grabbed the door like he was ready to break it off of its hinges. I slid up the frame until we were almost eye level with each other.

"Brady just stop!" once again my hands grabbed his face in an attempt to get him to pay attention to me, "Please look at me. Don't think about what he did."

He started to push against me hard, and his hand grabbed the knob again. I put my hand on top of his and practically dug my nails into his skin, and even then it didn't seem to have any sort of affect on him.

With one of my hands still resting on his cheek I tilted my head up so I could reach his face and quickly pressed my lips against the side of his mouth. The longer I let my lips linger the less he shook. As he became more aware of me and less aware of what happened he wrapped his arms around my waist and kept me firmly in place. When he pulled away a little bit he looked me straight in the eye.

Just taking a couple deep breaths seemed to make his anger die away. I guess I should remember that for next time, "I'm sorry."

I shook my head, "It's alright just as long as they don't see you. If they do then I'm pretty much-,"

"Let's not talk about it," he seemed to shudder.

I nodded and squirmed out of his arms so I could finally give him the towel and clothes, "Here, I figured you'd be freezing so I got these for you."

He stared at what I was giving to him, seeming apprehensive about taking the clothes, "Are you sure?"

I guess it was really obvious that he knew these were Noah's clothes. I sighed and bobbed my head up and down, "Just hurry up and change you're making me cold just looking at you."

He grabbed the clothes from me, letting out a small chuckle and a quick thank you before changing while I stayed turned towards the door. As I got changed into my own pair of pajamas he did the same for me and turned towards the back wall. I gave him permission to turn around and he kept smiling when he saw me. His joyful expression made me feel self-conscious more than anything.

"What?" I bit the inside of my lip, "Do I look bad?"

The moonlight coming through the window made his eyes glisten. I felt like melting at the sight of him, "Not at all, you look pretty cute actually."

I sat down on my bed and scanned him up and down as a blush creeped up on my face. I waited for him to join me, but for some strange reason he stayed right in the same spot standing there studying me, making my cheeks turn a deeper shade of red.

"I'm going to get you some ice," he declared.

My eyes widened and I grabbed his forearm to prevent him from going any further, "You're going to get caught. My face is fine just leave it alone."

They were still fighting from what I could hear and now they were upstairs which made it even riskier than what I just did. Why must he do this to me?

"Don't worry I'll be fast," and in a flash he was out of the room, closing the door lightly behind him. I waited for only a minute and he was already back and sitting on my bed right next to me. How he did all of that that fast I don't even know. He didn't even know the way around my house and he was faster at getting ice than I would be. Weird.

He pressed the frozen peas up against my cheek and I shivered from the feeling, "Frozen peas huh?"

"That's the first thing I could find," an incredible smile was set on his face and once again I smiled in return.

Now that he was here I felt that 'no care in the world' feeling again even though I was just slapped by my father not too long ago. Everything immediately seemed to get better whenever he was around. I wanted it to be like this all of the time though. Maybe I should never let him leave me alone again, but then he might think I'm too possessive.

"So what did Cynthia want to talk to you about?" when he saw me shivering again he pulled me into his side and I instantly warmed up.

"It's more like what she wanted to torture me with," I guess that could've been taking it a bit too far, but that's how I perceive what happened today. Brady is the one person that I can say this to and I know he will just listen attentively without saying I'm being overdramatic.

I settled more into his side with my good cheek resting up against the crook of his arm and the frozen peas on top of my other one.

"What happened?" he rubbed his hand up and down my back soothingly and it almost made me forget about where I was.

"My brother put a note in her locker," I was determined not to get upset, "A note that he wrote the day he killed himself."

"And you read it?" his tone of voice stayed calm.

"He told me that he was ok and to stop blaming Logan for his death. I don't even know how I can do that after what he's said, but I guess I have to since Logan's going through a lot right now," I heard what sounded like objects being thrown and more yelling. All of the noises caused me to jump, "I'm sorry you have to hear all of this fighting."

He kissed the top of my head, making it seem like he didn't even notice any of it, "I can deal with it as long as I know you're safe here with me."

"I'm actually glad you surprised me like this," I didn't it find it hard to admit anything I was about to say, "I really needed you."

"See, I told you I had a feeling," he turned on his side so that he was now facing me. I took the ice off of my face and pressed my forehead against his.

I was completely content with this. If I could have him here with me every night then maybe everything wouldn't seem so bad anymore. Maybe things are finally starting to actually change. There was just one thing that I was uncertain about, and that's whether or not we're together. When Cynthia asked me that before I had never really thought about it. Were we together or not?

"Brady," I stared at his closed eyelids.

"Hmm?" he actually seemed like he was going to fall asleep.

I took a moment to think about what I was saying before I let it out, "Are we together?"

His eyes opened wide in surprise and I knew he was not expecting me to say that at all.

"What do you mean?"

My shoulders rose and fell, "Are we a couple?"

He answered with another question, "Do you want to be a couple?"

I hesitated for a moment before I nodded my head.

"Ok, then I guess I got to do it the right way."

He readjusted himself a little bit and cleared his throat. When he looked at me again I felt that weird tug on my body pleading with me to get closer to him. It was so hard to resist that urge.

"Melody," he paused, "Will you be my girlfriend?"

I bit my lip, "I don't know I don't like labels like that."

He rolled his eyes, "Just answer the question."

"Alright fine, yes," my soft giggling filled the whole room and all of a sudden our lips were joined together. He kept the kiss sweet and short, but it was just enough to have my head spinning. I don't know how or why he has this kind of effect on me; all I can really say is that I enjoy it.

"It's time for you to get some sleep," he whispered.

I rested my head against his chest and closed my eyes one by one, smelling the scent of my brother and him all at the same time. It was a bad thing as much as it was a good thing. I couldn't escape anything bad even with Brady around. The screaming I heard in the hallway was proof of that.

"Will you be here when I wake up?" I asked, hoping that he would say yes.

"I don't know. If I'm not then I swear I will be back soon and we can hang out all day."

I dug my face into the t-shirt he was wearing, "I don't want to sleep if you're leaving."

"You don't have to worry about that," I felt him kiss my forehead, "I'll be in your dreams with you."

I held on to that with everything I could, desperately needing it to happen so badly. I didn't want to have another nightmare. From now on I was determined to only have good dreams that included him and nothing else. I wanted to stay positive for more than just a couple of hours.

**Really hope you guys liked this one. Part of the next chapter was supposed to be in this chapter, but this one is really lengthy so I cut it out and am going to put it into the next chapter! This is the longest chapter yet! Sorry Brady your chapter kind of got beat by this one ;P**

**Please review if you are still reading this story!**


	22. 20 Paradise

**Another update for all of you :) and also some good news. I only have a week left of school and then its finals. Good news: only have to take one final (happy dancing) sooo guess what that means? Quicker UPDATES! This will be until February since my break lasts a whole month and a half (HALLELUJAH) you will not BELIEVE how stressed out I am. The only thing keeping me sane is writing. **

**And guess what? My english professor basically hates my life. She obviously thinks my writing sucks because she keeps giving me C's on all of my papers when a C is the lowest you can get. Honestly, is my writing really THAT BAD? I hate her...she's making me rewrite this whole paper over again that I worked so hard on...uggh stupid english I swear I'm dropping out of college and going to write books for the rest of my life...**

**Anyways**

**this chapter was a favorite of mine so I hope you all like it :) **

**ONE MORE THING! check out the song Lullaby by Nickelback. It is new and the song fits perfectly with Melody and Brady. I have listened to it over and over again and cannot stop because it is so addicting!**

**alright I'm done sooo read on**

Song for this chapter- Paradise by Coldplay (very great song everything about it is perfect)

Chapter 20

Paradise

The noise that forced me to wake up felt like one of the many blows to the face that I have ever gotten from my father. It stung like a bitch and unfortunately wasn't going to go away unless I took action. I opened my eyes slowly and grunted as I sat up, unplugging that stupid alarm clock from the wall. I was completely surprised that in one rapid movement I was standing steady and not being pulled down by my still half asleep body. With all of the force I had in me, I treated the thing like it was my father and slammed it onto the floor. Finally, my body reacted normally and fell limply back onto my bed. The only damage that I could notice that was done to the poor excuse for good technology was a small crack in the plastic on the front. I guess you could say this is exactly what would happen if that actually was one of my parents. Only a tiny part of them would crack, and no permanent damage would be done.

I rubbed my palm over my face and let my mind drift elsewhere, particularly to the fact that I never set an alarm for myself on a Saturday. The clock told me it was only nine when I was preparing to end its life, and even if I did set an alarm I wouldn't have done it so early. I actually valued my sleep.

As I tried to think of the source of all of this confusion I went back to the dreams that I was rudely pulled away from. Those very detailed and lifelike dreams were the best I've had in a while, and I knew they were only that good because Brady was in both of them. Even though they were bizarre and felt strangely real I would've much rather preferred to stay in them.

I went over the first in my head which was the most specific and existent one.

He was actually in my room, saving me from my personal hell just when I needed him most. I could practically feel myself trying to calm him down when he realized my dad hit me again. My lips literally felt swollen from the kiss I placed on his mouth. It had me questioning whether or not it actually was reality. Then again, everything that happened in that dream was too good to be true. I couldn't actually be his girlfriend and I didn't have the strength to give him my brother's clothes to wear.

My fingertips landed on my left cheek which felt a bit sore. I guess getting hit was real, but everything else? It's just not possible that he would go out in the middle of a downpour just to visit me out of all people. Who was I kidding? I'm not even that special. It's just my messed up head making up fantasies.

And all of that leads up to the next dream. It no longer seemed like a nightmare of me drowning. It was now just me dreaming that Brady was the one, the angel that saved me. He pulled me out of the water and gave me my life back, and I strangely felt like I wanted it back just because I caught sight of his face.

I don't think I have to go any further with that one. It pretty much explains just how much I cannot stop thinking about Brady. Why am I so obsessed with just the thought of him? It's driving me completely insane.

Before I could go any further with the crazy jumbled up mess in my head I got up and faced the morning that greeted me. Like always, there was a blanket of clouds that prevented the sun from having any chance of peeking out today. I let my eyes scan over my room for a moment before they landed on a small piece of paper that was resting on the pillow next to the one I slept on. I had absolutely no idea what it could've been because I honestly don't even remember touching paper last night. To be frank, I can't even recall anything that occurred within the last eighteen hours.

I snatched the paper off of the pillow, and as I laid on my stomach a memorable scent emanated from the sheets. It belonged to none other than Brady Greene.

I shrugged it off as nothing as I flipped open the paper, sighing in relief when I knew the handwriting wasn't Noah's.

_Melody,_

_I set your alarm for you so that you would have enough time to get up and ready for today. I swore I would take you out all day and I'm going to keep my promises from now on. How's your cheek? You should probably put more ice on it this morning...the peas are in the freezer again if you want them._

Wait, what?

What?

Was. It. Real?

_I'll be there at ten. I hope you're not one of those girls that take hours to get ready, because I only gave you an hour, minus the time it takes you to get up and read this. Uhh sorry if you are? I won't care if you just roll out of bed and meet me out here. You look amazing either way._

I grabbed a piece of my dull looking dark hair that was broken on the ends. No doubt that the bruise on my eye added to that banged up mess style I had going on here. Yes, this was definitely an amazing look for me. He was right on with that one.

_Just be careful this morning, please? I really don't need to be breaking anymore promises. Anyways, I'll see you at ten._

_Brady_

Shit. Shit. Big pile of shit.

I now had only forty five minutes to take a shower, cover up the bruise on my eye and now my cheek, find a good outfit to wear to spend the day with Brady, and think of a way to avoid my father's rage this morning.

It only took me seconds to comprehend what exactly I had to do. I was up and in the bathroom taking a shower in an instant, thinking about how everything that I thought my own mind had made up was really how I spent last night. Everything actually happened. He did ask me to be his girlfriend after I asked him if we were a couple. He did lay right beside me as I fell asleep, desperately wanting to dream about him. And he did swear to hang out with me today. How could I be so stupid and think that I was even capable of making up such a detailed fantasy all by myself?

As the hot water hit my skin and I scrubbed as efficiently and quickly as I could, I let myself smile at the memory of what happened. He saved me from feeling miserable about the note from my brother last night and now he was saving me from moping around all day. I can only hope that this lasts for a while. I just have to stop assuming that everything that happens between him and me is just make-believe and convince myself that there are good things in life. I needed to believe that those good things could happen to me just as much as anyone else.

I lathered the shampoo on my head, rinsing and repeating twice just to be sure I didn't smell bad. Once I was finished cleaning myself up a bit I wrapped a towel around my head and ran back into my room to check what time it was on my cell phone since my clock was now residing on the floor. I had a half an hour to finish up. Ok, so it wasn't that bad, but knowing that I'm going to be with Brady all day meant that it was only natural for me to want to look nicer for him, right?

I went into my closet and dug out a pair of nice jeans that actually didn't have any small blood stains or holes in them. I picked out a green long sleeve shirt and my clean pair of vans that I rarely ever wore. Before I went to blow dry my hair I made sure to use the liquid makeup to cover up every bruise on my face including the purple bags under my eyes. For just this once I didn't want to look like I had just gotten the life sucked out of me. I don't even get my motive for looking like this. It wasn't like he said this was a date. It's just us hanging out, so why do I have to make myself look so presentable all of a sudden when he seems to like me just as much when I'm just wearing a hoodie and sweat pants?

I shook away my stupid thoughts and let myself do whatever the hell I wanted. For the first time ever I put some mousse in my hair and let it look naturally wavy. I had never once in my life worn my hair like this, so my eyes stayed wide the whole time I fixed it up. I always liked the way my hair looks straight, because then people don't even notice me. I look normal and invisible to everyone else because it makes me fade into the background. This time, I wanted him to see me at my best. I wanted to actually put some effort into the way I looked, and actually make myself believe that life is worth it just because people like Brady exist.

After everything was finished I grabbed my journal and barely even thought about my escape route as I climbed out of my window and down the tree. Why did I even freak out about avoiding him? Why didn't I ever think of this before?

Oh yeah, because I was scared I would get caught. Well, screw getting caught; I get to see Brady all day.

My butt was plastered to the curb as I waited to see his Chevelle coming down the road, tracing the stitching on the leather of the journal in my hands. I knew where I needed to go today and what I needed to do. As long as Brady had no plans and left everywhere we go up to me, then I could do it. I could come face to face with what I've been fearing. It's only going to be possible because Brady is there with me. Otherwise, I would stay cooped up in my room and refuse to go outside.

Today was going to be different though. Today, I was changing myself. You could say I had an epiphany or saw things in a totally different way after what actually happened last night, but it was just me realizing I had to be worth being with. I wanted to be as good for Brady as he is for me. If I don't change, then he eventually has to get sick of me. Now that he was the only thing important enough to change for I couldn't lose him and slip back into craving death over my own life. I was just beginning to get to the grass that's greener on the other side of the fence. As cheesy as that expression is its entirely true.

Everything that happened last night has led me to feel optimistic about everything that lies ahead in the future, in our future together.

I stood up with a crooked smile on my face as his car pulled right up beside me. My heart nearly leaped into my throat when I saw him returning a smile back to me. He reached over and opened the door, and I slipped into the car without hesitating. I could feel his eyes on the back of my head when I finally got settled next to him. I looked straight at his face and watched as he seemed to be drooling. My cheeks felt hot with the embarrassment that overcame me.

As his hand reached out and his finger twirled a strand of my hair, I was just about ready to jump his bon-

Oh God. Control yourself Melody.

"Your hair," he seemed to choke on his words.

"What's wrong with it?" I bit my lip in order to restrain myself from kissing him.

"It's," he cleared his throat, "different."

I bowed my head, feeling his finger slowly untangle itself from my hair, "Is that good or bad?"

I heard a chuckle come out of his mouth, "What do you think?"

My cheeks were now a beet red color. He finally started up the car and pulled into the middle of the road. My head was reeling with the tempting thought of scooting over and sitting right up against his side, just so I could feel that physical contact I was craving.

I snuck a glance at him and stared longer than I intended to. As he drove he looked right back at me and I felt the saliva get caught in my throat when our eyes met.

"Why the sudden change?" he took one hand off of the steering wheel and set it down on the seat next to me. I swear he was only doing it on purpose.

"I don't know. I needed to change things up a bit," I forced my eye contact to set on the windshield in front of me.

"Well I like it," his fingers crept up onto the top of my hand for the slightest second. I watched as he managed to snake his hand around my waist in one swift movement. Then he did exactly the opposite of what I thought he would do. He made my self control go out the window and pulled me right up against his warm skin. Oh God he must've heard what I was thinking. That's just what I knew would drive me crazy and he had to have sensed that by the way my body suddenly fell right into the curves of his side.

He kissed my hair and sniffed my shampoo, "You look beautiful," I tried to stop smiling like I just got exactly what I wanted, "Not that I didn't think you looked beautiful before."

My shoulders shook when I laughed, "I don't know why I tried so hard this morning. I guess I just felt like impressing you."

"You don't have to impress me. Believe me you just being you is impressive enough, and really not helping my self control."

"Good joke," I'm pretty sure I'm the only one that has no sense of control right now.

"It's true."

"I'm sure now get your eyes on the road," I elbowed him jokingly in the side, trying to make my head stop spinning. I didn't even want to question the fact that I wasn't wearing a seatbelt and Brady could barely stop going all googly eyed over the way I looked to stay focused on the road. With how strong he was I doubted that his death grip on me would falter at just a simple car crash. Yeah, a simple car crash-

Oh man he is so damn hot.

No, don't stare. Do not stare.

My eyes wandered to his face, finding those dimples creased into his cheeks again. Damn it no self control whatsoever.

"You have no clue how much of an effect you have on me."

I could've said the exact same thing, but instead I played it cool and rolled my eyes, "Do you even know where you're going?"

He chuckled, "No. Where are we going?"

My hand instinctively found his and grabbed it for support, giving a simple shake of the head to stop my nonsense and get serious. If I was going to do this I needed him, and I needed to get my mind out of the God forsaken gutter.

"I want to visit his grave," suddenly my voice sounded small and weak. It was barely convincing enough to let him know that I was confident about my decision.

So, of course, he asked, "Are you sure?"

I nodded against his body, "It's time for me to be strong."

All at once his muscles tensed and for some strange reason his grip on me tightened, as if he wanted to protect me from the possibility of me regretting my choice and the consequences that went along with that regret.

"Alright," it was a simple response, one that I was hoping to hear, "if at any point you change your mind just let me know."

"I won't, now make a left up here."

He rubbed his hand up and down my side as he did as he was told. I felt goose bumps form all over my skin from the feeling of his warmth combined with the nervous stutter my heart suddenly became accustomed to. None of it subsided the closer we got to the cemetery, and when we were only a block away I had grabbed my journal and clutched it tightly in my hands to try and reassure myself.

"I'm right here Mel," I hadn't even realized that I had closed my eyes and held my breath the rest of the way here until I breathed and opened them up. The car was now surrounded by hundreds of headstones; the only thing separating us from the dead was the small dirt road that ran through the whole cemetery, "I think you're hyperventilating."

To stop his doubts, I regrettably wiggled my way out of his arms and sat as far away from him as I could so he couldn't feel me shivering. My cheek was pressed up against the chilled window, hating that the cold made me already miss his protective heat.

"Brady I want to do this. My heart's just being stupid," yeah that was believable. He was definitely going to let you go out there now.

"I don't want you to cry," he said it in a low whisper, like he almost didn't want to say it but he did anyways. His words didn't really surprise me though. I've basically been crying on a daily basis since the first day I met him, so he was just trying to be prepared.

"You're here, so I won't. All I need is you and I won't cry," I took my face off of the window and adjusted my body so it was facing him now. His lips were slightly twitching into a grin, and I knew that he liked the idea of me putting all of my trust in him.

"Alright," he opened up the car door and I did the same. He came over to my side and towered over my short figure, standing still for a moment and staring into my eyes, "Do you know where it is?"

I shrugged and finally took in my surroundings. Just the sight of it all intimidated me. There was nothing but sadness here. The grey sky paired with the cold colored marble and contrasted with the green each blade of grass was giving off. Nothing here tried to give any sense of hope. The harsh look of this place made it even harder to stick with my own decision.

"I think it's over here," I pointed towards the east, remembering that his grave was close to the weeping willow that I couldn't keep my eyes off of during the funeral. I remember thinking that it was too ironic there would be a tree called a weeping willow in the cemetery providing shade for the few dead that surrounded it.

Brady grabbed my hand and I led the way, desperately holding onto the fact that he was right behind me as I got closer to the spot. Once we reached the gloomy tree we both searched around to try and find it. As soon as I saw the name Noah a few stones over to the right of the tree I stopped dead in my tracks. It slapped me right in the face and made a small squeak come out of my mouth. His footsteps came up from behind me and his hands around my wrists were the only thing that kept me standing.

My gaze drifted over the carvings in the stone, reading over everything but staying on the phrase that angered me the most.

_Loving son_, it read. How could such a little lie cut through me so deep? Why couldn't even his grave tell the truth and just give away the real reason why he killed himself? Better yet, why couldn't it say loving brother just for me? Was it too much to ask?

I crouched down and sat on the grass with my legs crossed right across from the stone. I wasn't sitting because I felt like I was about to fall over. I just had to write something in order to not cry. My emotions had to be written on paper instead of my face.

_Can you believe I'm actually here? I know I can't either. I never thought that I would be able to do it without wanting to fall to pieces. Actually, I never even dreamed I would come here feeling positive instead of horribly negative. It's completely out of character for me, and I can just picture you making that ugly oh my gawd face at me. _

_Oh man lets document this. I'm smiling while sitting right in front of the piece of stone that your name is carved into, dating your birth and death. A smile is on my face right now because I made a joke. _

_You want to know who's responsible for this composure? Brady freaking Greene. And just for your information he is good for me. I cannot even describe how incredible I feel when I'm around him. It's like I can finally breathe without someone's hands slowly suffocating me. You wanted this for me, so I can only hope that you're out there somewhere seeing how good he is to me. _

_Ok, I know you hate when I get sappy, so I'll stop. I can already say that I feel better just because I'm writing this. Olivia's one amazing therapist. _

_Melody_

I felt his hand squeeze my knee when I tuned back into what was really going on. He was sitting right next to me, studying my face like I was a piece of artwork on display. I defensively closed my journal, mentally hoping he didn't catch a peek at any of that.

For some strange reason, he just would not stop staring. I felt like maybe in the time I had written everything he might have frozen because he honestly didn't move one bit.

"Are you alive?" I wanted to take the words back as soon as I let them out. It was a bad thing to say while I was here out of all places, but I couldn't even ignore the truth, I didn't flinch at all when I said it.

"Do you think he would've liked me?" my question was completely set aside as he finally blinked. He waited patiently for my response while I just tried to comprehend what he had asked me.

I placed my hand on top of his already knowing the answer, "Yes," I smiled, "It might have taken him a while since he's the protective older brother type, but yes he would've eventually liked you."

"Eventually?" his expression became confused and all of a sudden I wondered why he wanted to know so badly.

"Just like me he had trouble letting his guard down. He wanted to make sure no one hurt me like our dad."

He nodded like he understood, "How long would it take him to accept me?"

My teeth bit down on my lip, knowing that that answer could never really be answered, "Not long," I spoke almost breathlessly.

He saw the change in my expression and sighed loudly, mumbling something to himself before speaking to me again, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked that."

I shook my head, wanting to admit something that I had been thinking about lately, "I like to think that he somehow sent you to me," I rested my head up against his shoulder, "to save me, because that's exactly what you're doing."

His nose buried into my hair and I looked back at Noah's headstone again, reading over his name.

"If me finding you is his doing then I'm going to be trying to find some way to repay him for the rest of my life."

"Good luck with that," I didn't laugh at my own poor joke. It didn't cheer me up or fill up the feeling of emptiness Brady's words left me with.

"Sorry, another bad thing to say," he grunted, "I keep screwing this all up. I should be here comforting you not being an asshole."

I ran my finger up and down his arm, enjoying the sparks that I felt just from the smoothness of his skin, "Don't call yourself that, you're comforting me a lot more than you think. Honestly, this was all made possible because of you. I would've never done this alone, so thank you for coming with me."

He began to run his own finger across my cheek, causing me to close my eyes because it felt so good. We sat that way on the ground for what seemed like forever, but in reality I'm sure it was only five or six minutes until he talked again, "Can I show you something?"

I nodded immediately, "Anything."

He laughed softly, his breath tickling my ear from how close he was, "We have to get out of here then, is that ok?"

My eyelids stayed shut when I replied, "Yeah, one can only spend so much time surrounded by all of this depression."

Suddenly, I was no longer touching the ground. His arms were underneath me and holding me up against his chest. I stared at his blue t-shirt and took in his divine scent as he carried me back to the car. Being this close to him only made me feel completely unhappy when he finally sat me into the passenger's seat of his car. This time he stayed on his side while I stayed on mine. I disliked that I felt so lonely when he was not even four feet away from me.

I waited to see whatever he wanted to show me, but the only thing that was new during our ride was the different route we took to get back to La Push. Other than that everything was completely normal. In my head I came up with different possible things that he would want to show me. Maybe it was just a way to lure me into some place so he could just have his way with me. If that was true then I definitely would not be resisting.

I groaned and mentally punched myself in the face. What is wrong with me? I'm suddenly making up scenarios in my head of me and him getting all hot and heavy in some random place. I blame my out of whack hormones for all of this.

My mental argument was brought to a stop when we finally pulled up into the driveway of his house. Ok, so still nothing new yet.

I was expecting him to take me inside and cuddle up on the couch with me to watch a good movie, but he did the exact opposite. While I was going up the porch steps he was heading towards the back of the house.

"What are you doing?" I asked, staring at him like he had three heads.

"I told you I wanted to show you something," he stood there looking at me like he expected me to join him. All I wanted was to know what this something he wanted to show me was. Did he have something hiding out in the backyard? Maybe it was a puppy or something ,"Follow me," he began walking again.

I squinted at the door before looking back at the spot he was previously standing in. My legs moved cautiously as I headed for the backyard. My hopes of finally seeing what he wanted to show me were crushed when I realized nothing was there. There was only one smug looking Brady that was standing at the tree line waiting for me to catch up to him. I placed one foot in front of the other and took as long as I possibly could to reach him.

"If you don't hurry up it's going to be dark and we're never going to be able to find it."

My eyes rose, "Can you please just tell me what we're trying to find?"

He extended his hand towards me and I hesitantly grabbed it, "You're too impatient for your own good."

I didn't get to ask anymore questions because he decided to waste no time and drag me into the forest against my own will. As we walked deeper into the trees and farther away from civilization I kept trying to think of any place or thing in the forest that had some sort of appeal. The only thing I could think of was my wolf. If he was out there then Brady could finally meet the remarkable creature.

Yeah, it wasn't very likely that that's what he wanted me to see…

I looked at the canopy of tree branches above my head as I stayed close behind Brady. It was a majestic sight that had me gaping at it in awe, causing me to nearly fall over a shrub and bust my knee open. Brady caught my weight before I could come close to the ground.

"Sorry," I put an innocent look on my face, "I got distracted."

He chuckled, "We're just about there."

I was about to be my impatient self again and ask him a stupid meaningless question, but he turned around and walked so quick that the words got caught in my throat. We walked a few feet further until we finally reached a cluster of trees. From what I could see it looked as if there was barely even room to squeeze through them.

"We can't-," he placed his hand over my mouth and I shut up just because I was surprised by the fact that my lips were touching his palm.

"We can and we will," he smirked at me, keeping his hand on my mouth so I wouldn't protest as he picked me up again.

Even with his broad shoulders and tall frame he managed to maneuver his way through that cluster like it was no big deal. I felt completely confused when I heard what sounded like running water right ahead of us. A few bushes ahead I could barely see a clearing in the trees, and after he stepped over some of the annoying green of the forest I finally saw all of it.

It was almost like I was being brought into a small piece of heaven. Everything about the place was so beautiful that it almost seemed unreal at first.

Brady set me on my feet and my eyes kept getting bigger from how much splendor I was forced to take in. Running through the middle of the clearing was a small stream that made the sounds of complete peace. There were birds chirping overhead and a variety of wildflowers that covered the ground. A few mossy looking rocks were scattered about the area and every single tree was unique in their own way. One tree was only a small thing with branches that seemed to twist in every direction. Another to the back of the clearing was full of cherry blossoms. It just had me believing that I was dreaming and making up my own personal paradise, picking and choosing what was in it.

I looked over to my left and saw one other tree that caught my attention. I walked up close to it and placed my hands on the bark where a shape seemed to be intentionally indented into it. It wasn't exactly a heart shape, but at a first glance you could definitely see the outline of it.

"Did someone do this?" I ran my hand over the wooden heart, keeping the image of it etched into my brain.

"No, it's been that way since the first time I found it."

I glanced at him over my shoulder, not even trying to hide the cheeky smile plastered on my face, "How did you even find this place?"

I looked up and enjoyed the sight of birds flying back and forth between trees, some looking as if they were chasing each other and others gliding at their own pace. Squirrels scurried up the trunks of each tree, getting as far away from us as they could.

"I was kind of just walking through the woods and stumbled upon it one day," the feeling of his breath on the back of my neck caused me to turn around and gaze at the other perfect part of this place.

"You really like wandering through the woods don't you?"

He shrugged, his lips formed into a solid line. No words came out of his mouth and he looked as if he were contemplating whether or not he should be honest with me. I knew that look very well. I have put on that emotionless and mute façade more in two days than anyone has in their whole lifetime. You wanted to let the truth come out, but if you did then the outcome was a toss up between being good or bad and you didn't want to risk the bad.

I tried to turn the subject off of him being all secretive and back onto this stunning place he decided to show me out of everyone else he knows, "Why did you take me here?"

I took notice to the way his body relaxed when I asked him the question, "I'm the only one that knows about this place," his eyes flickered up to mine, "and now you do too. So I figured it could be our spot to come and get away from the world."

It took everything in me to stay put and not kiss the crap out of those lips. It was like they were sitting there looking all full and pouty just beckoning me to connect my own mouth with them. I looked down at the ground to try and make the feeling subside, "I need to get away from the world every once and a while."

"I know," his voice was quieter than before as he took a step towards me. It took all of the power I had left in me to keep my eyes on that single purple flower that a small bee was residing on. I watched as the bee collected the nectar, tiny particles of pollen sticking to its furry limbs as it went along each petal.

"Come on, you have to feel the water," suddenly my eyes looked to him without my brain's permission. I thought that I would at least last five minutes without staring at him, but no I couldn't even resist the urge to stare at the way his muscles in his shoulders moved when he walked. I can honestly say that I am addicted to the sparks of pleasure I feel whenever I see him. It's not any simple kind of addiction either. It's the kind where you completely rely on the drug in order to get through the day, and if you're without it you suffer from horrible withdrawals. The days Brady was absent in school were proof of my addiction. Symptoms of withdrawal included anxiousness, depression, and feeling the need to constantly call him to see if he was ok.

Brady was already standing by the stream when I knocked out of my trance. When he gazed at me from over his shoulder I had reached the height of my addiction. In other words, I was a goner. Nothing could stop me from doing something stupid.

I walked over and stood right beside him, imitating him when he took his shoes and socks off. His hand slipped through mine before we both tested the water with our toes. I was completely shocked when the water felt soothingly warm. I emerged both of my feet in the water quickly, feeling the roughness of the pebbles and rocks on my heels.

"It's so warm," I commented, splashing my feet around a little bit.

"That's one of the best parts about it here. The water is always warm. Not once has it ever been too cold," he said.

"It's perfect," my curiosity got the best of me then.

I stepped up onto one of the rocks that were sticking out of the water, hopping onto the next one that was only a foot away. To keep myself balanced I held both of my hands out on either side of me, feeling confident enough to let go of him and venture out on my own. He stayed close behind me as I leaped from one rock to the next. I teetered from side to side and kept going down the length of the stream, following the direction of the current.

When I came up to the following rock I lost my footing. My ankle twisted and caused me to begin to fall right into the water. Just as I thought I was going to scrape my face on a jagged stone, Brady's arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me right up. He made it seem like I weighed as much as a feather as he plopped me back firmly on my feet. My smile grew wider when I gazed back up at his face.

"Clumsy," he placed a delicate kiss right on the tip of my nose and smirked at me.

I felt my mind turn to mush in a matter of seconds. Just one small kiss had my legs wobbling and my face turning red for the tenth time today.

The tip of his finger brushed lightly over my cheek, "Am I actually making you nervous right now?" he asked, the hint of a laugh ready to escape from his mouth.

"N-No," I cursed at myself for stumbling over the simple word, "You keep surprising me, that's all."

His brows scrunched together in confusion, "How so?"

I looked away from him and stared down at my reflection in the water that was begging me to find the right words to say, "I guess just by what you do."

I should've stopped right there. I should've shied away from the subject and turned his attention onto something else. I should've done all of it, but I was stupid and let him ask me another question, "What do you mean?"

I huffed and made sure not to make eye contact with him, "You picked me out of every other girl in the world when they're all probably a lot less complicated than I am. You come into my room at the exact moment I needed you the most and take all of my fears away. And you take me here, and show me how beautiful the world can really be. I just don't get why you're so devoted to me."

I really didn't need to bring this up now. It wasn't like it was a subject that desperately needed to be addressed right here. Why did I have to go and ruin the moment we were having by bringing up all of my puzzling thoughts? Was I really going to let my optimism wash away so quickly if he said something I didn't want to hear?

See, this is one of the reasons why being addicted to Brady Greene is a bad thing. You say something stupid and then immediately regret it when it's all over.

"Melody," he picked me up and turned me around so that I was directly facing him. I latched my eyes onto his from the moment they came into my line of vision, "You let me see the side of you that you keep hidden from the world," he started off strong and kept going on with the same strength in his tone, "I'm devoted to you because you make me see everything differently, and I wouldn't want it any other way. Those girls out there you're worried about? They're nothing compared to you. I couldn't talk to them the way I do to you. I would never even think of showing those girls this place because I knew they wouldn't appreciate it like you do."

I sighed and rested my forehead on his chest, "If you searched better you might find someone who would love this place ten times better than I do. I bet they wouldn't have so many dysfunctions in their life."

He grunted, clearly frustrated that I wouldn't accept his words as truth. It was silent for a bit, the only sound was the water flowing all around our ankles and the critters that called this place home, "If only I could tell you right now," he spoke so softly that I almost missed it.

"Tell me what?" I asked.

"It's too soon," he replied.

"What's too soon?" I pushed further, not even caring how nosy I was being.

He sighed again and looked down at our feet. In one second my feet were no longer in the water. They were flailing in the air freely as he completely took all of my weight onto him. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, ready to ask him what he was doing. Before I could get the words out he pressed his lips against mine. It was a rough and desperate kiss, like he was trying to convey his feelings for me through this romantic action. After a few minutes of just simply kissing, I stiffened when I felt his tongue run along my bottom lip, asking for entrance into my mouth. I stayed still for a second and enjoyed the feeling of his tongue there before I gave in and let him have his way. He adjusted his arms so that they were now underneath my butt, supporting me even better than before, and l let our tongues touch for the slightest second. My mouth closed slightly from the feeling of the unknown, and he guided me through it by parting my lips again and letting our tongues dance together. Kissing someone like this was all new for me, so I enjoyed the moment as much as I possibly could. I did my own little trick and teased him by nibbling on his upper lip. He let me do what I wanted for only a minute before he let our tongues waltz together once again.

I felt a moan come out of me without my permission and mentally slapped myself for making the sound. Brady on the other hand saw it as encouragement and let his tongue slide deeper into my mouth. I pulled away after that, not wanting to get carried away since he was the drug I was becoming more and more addicted to. I breathed heavily when his lips found my neck instead and started nipping at the skin there. My head buried into the crook of his neck, feeling the sparks going out of control the longer he stayed on that one single spot.

When he got tired of that he placed millions of kisses on my jaw, cheek, forehead, and various other parts of me until he finally pulled back to look me in the eye.

"I'm completely yours Melody," he said breathlessly, "and I could never kiss someone else like that and feel as good as I do now."

I nodded, tightening my grip on his shoulders. It was my choice to be completely honest with the both of us before I ruined everything, "I believe you."

It was those three words that I needed to repeat to myself whenever he spoke to me and kissed me like that. If he didn't want me he wouldn't have done it. He would've walked away and gone to find one of the millions of other girls that were out there. I was just right from him, and from the perfection of that kiss I knew he was just right for me. Fate had brought us together, and I had no intention of ever letting him go.

**Hope you liked it? What did you think? Leave a review? When is everyone done for Christmas break? **

**I can promise you that in two chapters something suspenseful will be happening. It will definitely shake things up a bit and I am soooo anxious to write it and get it out of my head already! I cannot wait for it! **

**Please review and let me know what you're thinking about this story so far. Thank you for reading and everything else you do to make this possible! :)**

**~KK**


	23. 21 Lovesick Puppy

**So I'm back after my long and awkward absence. Hopefully you guys are still out there waiting for updates from me? If not then I understand...mehhh :( **

**Alright so I would just like to say that if it weren't for a few people that have recently reviewed this story (IzzyTheNinja and abbydog26) then I probably would've let this sit unfinished for another month. **

**I can say I couldn't find much inspiration for this chapter, but when I started writing it last night everything just seemed to come to me. And the ending will surprise you. I sat for ten minutes wondering if that's what I should do since my original plan was to make it happen later. Now I have to change my plan :D (bashes head against wall)**

**SO go ahead and read. I made it a long chapter just for you guys! Woot hope you enjoy!**

Songs for this Chapter- How to Save a Life by the Fray (during intervention), I Won't Give Up by Jason Mraz (for everything else :D)

Chapter 21

Lovesick Puppy

I tried not to think of myself as the type of girl who let her one and only friend down because of some guy, but I was slowly realizing that that is exactly who I've become. I was taking on the role of a bitch who was stepping on the person who's cared for her since day one, and I practically felt like hanging my head in shame for it. For the past three weeks I can admit that I barely thought twice about what I was doing to Connor until this very moment.

My hands were still wound tight around the steering wheel when I scanned over his house. I was finding it hard to even be sitting here just knowing how much he must hate me. I understand the source of that hatred too. I had carelessly told him that I kissed the one person he knew had the power to come into my life and ruin everything we had so quickly. It was my fault, and I would take full responsibility for my actions.

I had only noticed how badly my ignorance and stupidity had affected him when the both of us were forced to come together and help Cynthia and Logan's parents set up a complete intervention for Logan. He didn't make eye contact with me the whole time and it was only then that I realized how selfish I had been. I hardly even took notice to him in school, completely engaged by Brady almost every second of the day. I had let go of the fact that I hurt him for three weeks and stayed in my optimistic state just because it felt good to be happy for once. I could probably tell you a million reasons why I did it, but there was no excuse. I hurt him and that was that.

I attempted to make it up to Connor by calling him yesterday to let him know I would pick him up today so we could head over to Logan's house for the intervention. He barely even talked to me, only saying a simple ok before he hung up. I kept telling myself I had to be patient and think of a way to gain his friendship again this morning.

Now that my plan was set into place I felt my nerves get the best of me. I had to try to make amends with my brother's best friend and find some way to not blame him for all of the bullshit he's done, but I also had to beg on my knees for Connor's forgiveness. This day was definitely not going to be fun.

It was eleven thirty, so I had about fifteen minutes to try and do this with a positive outcome.

The wind whipped in my face as I stepped out of my truck and onto the sidewalk. Brady's voice still rang in my ears, telling me to breathe deeply in order to keep myself calm. Even though he did manage to reassure me last night, right now I was feeling all of that reassurance slip out of my reach. As I got closer to the front door I kept hoping that this would go as smoothly as I had planned and I could have my best friend back, because with everything else that's going to happen today I knew I needed him.

I rang the doorbell and took a cautious step back. Waiting outside was agonizing and it made me feel as if I were being tortured with uncertainty as every second passed. I tapped my feet on the ground, going over what I wanted to say to him in my head and preparing myself for what he would say back to me. It took him a couple minutes to finally open the door, and I completely expected the response I got. He kept his eyes on the ground and closed the door behind him, already heading for the truck without even saying a simple hello to me.

My eyes closed and I let the oxygen fill me up slowly before I let it go, clenching and unclenching my fists.

"Can I please talk to you?" I cursed myself when the question came out low and shaky, making me sound like a wimp. Brady told me I had to sound like I was completely confident in what I was saying, and knowing me all too well he rammed this into my brain at least a dozen times. Did I listen? Of course not.

"Oh so you want to talk to me now?" He was being harsh, but I knew that was coming, so I fully embraced it.

"I'm sorry Connor alright? I know how horrible I've been to you lately and I feel sick just thinking about. I've been spending all of my time with Brady and didn't even notice how much of a jerk I was being to you. It's completely unfair and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left things go on the way I did after I hurt you so badly. I don't even know what I was thinking. I should've confronted you right after it happened but I didn't and I'm so sorr-,"

"Stop saying sorry," finally I got him to look at me. Even though I couldn't comprehend what exactly I did to make him do it I was glad he did.

He walked over to the porch where I was standing and sat down on the top step, leaving just enough room for me to sit beside him. He looked at me one more time and I took it as an invitation to sit down, so I planted myself right next to him.

"I feel bad about how stereotypical I've become."

He was quiet for a while, only paying attention to the way the laces on his shoes swayed with the wind.

"You never deserved anything that I did to you. I was just being a selfish bitch."

Immediately, his head shot up in my direction, "You weren't being a bitch. I get why you did it."

"You what?" I was completely dumbfounded and tried to convince myself that I just misheard what he said.

"I said I get it. I wasn't fully innocent myself, so I'm sorry too."

I shook my head in denial, "But I just ignored you. I basically let Brady take up all of my time."

"I know, what happened?" He folded his arms together and rested them on his knees, smirking at me, "I was worried you would never return to normal."

The confusion I felt was written all over my face. Was I really going to get off this easily? He was cracking jokes with me already? "So you're not mad?"

He shook his head and sighed, turning his gaze off of me again, "I was until you said all of that. I've been waiting for you to come to your senses and not act like such a lovesick puppy anymore."

My cheeks heated up with the embarrassment I felt, "I was really that bad?"

"Yeah," he chuckled, "I don't blame you though and for a week or so I kind of liked seeing you so happy," the smile on his face faded slightly, "Even if it wasn't me who was making you that way."

"I practically ruined everything by what I said. I know it hurt you and I can't forgive myself for how long I let it go on."

He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me up against his side, our knees touching, "Like I said it's my fault too. I let my feelings get the best of me and tried to ruin our friendship."

I shrugged my shoulders, "You can't help how you feel."

"But if I want to still have you in my life I need to," he stared at my face, taking in the way I looked. I didn't find it strange when he smiled at what he saw, because even I knew that I was looking different lately. My bruises were gone, my hair had some volume and life to it, and I was even starting to wear t-shirts that exposed the faded scars on my arms. I was becoming a whole new me, "I've seen you at your worst and I've been there to get you through it. Even though I was bitter before and acted like Brady was trying to take my place I couldn't deny that he was making you happy. Probably happier than I could ever make you."

I nudged him with my elbow, "That's not true he just does it in a different way."

"Look at you though. In all of the years we've been friends you've never worn your hair like this," he grabbed a strand of it, "and sure I could make you laugh and get you to crack a smile or two, but I could never get you to let anyone see your wrists. He's built you up into this beautiful and confident girl that I never knew existed," he furrowed his eyebrows, "Why should I try and stop you from finally getting everything you deserve?"

I reached over and grabbed his hand, leaning my head up against his arm. He was back to his old self again, being the most amazing and understanding friend anyone could ask for and practically giving me his approval, "I don't even know why I deserve the both of you to be honest."

"Seriously? You're really going to say _that_ when you have to deal with complete bullshit at home every day?"

I didn't react in any way. I was getting more and more used to talking about it, "That doesn't-,"

He placed his hand over my mouth, "You are so stubborn. It amazes me that I still put up with it after all these years. Maybe I should just go back to not talking to you."

I punched him in the arm and pushed his hand away from me, ruffling his hair just because I knew it annoyed him, "And I can't believe I still put up with your smart ass comments," I stood up and headed to my truck with a huge grin spread across my face. He soon followed after me and both of us got into the car feeling completely content…for now.

It only took five minutes of the ride to Logan's house for us to become fidgety in our seats. We both were dreading what was about to happen, and I was really not looking forward to the part where I had to speak to Logan directly about everything that's happened over the past couple of months.

The closer we got the slower I drove. Connor noticed, still keeping his mouth shut since he felt as bad as I did. Sure we were trying to help him out with a serious problem, and I understood that Noah wanted me to forgive him for everything, but it still was going to be uncomfortable. I mean I've only seen interventions on TV. Never in my life did I ever think I would become a part of one. If it were my choice I wouldn't have gotten involved. I didn't like Logan and I wasn't about to become his best friend. We only knew each other because of my brother and I was doing this solely for him.

Well, for Cynthia too I guess. She's been so distraught by the whole situation that I honestly felt bad for her. She loved him enough to get him help and when she called me to ask me how we should go about the situation I gave her the number of my therapy clinic. I wasn't going to deny him the help he needed, it was only right.

We finally pulled up to the house after a ten minute drive. Both of us gave the same 'let's get this over with' look to each other before we got out of the truck and headed up the front steps. Connor bounced on his heels in anxiousness and I chewed on my lip for that same reason while we stood in front of the door, building up the courage to knock.

"I bet he's going to freak out and leave," Connor hesitantly knocked a few times.

I sighed, "One can only hope he does it before I have to talk."

He didn't get a chance to respond before Logan's dad, Michael, opened the door and greeted us with a solemn look on his face, "I'm glad you guys could make it," he sounded just as bad as he looked. It made it seem like he was losing his son instead of getting him help, "Come inside we're just waiting for Cynthia and Logan to arrive," he opened the door wider and the two of us stepped inside, greeted by the sight of Logan's mother and the therapist sitting in the living room. Their faces resembled Michael's, and I suddenly got the feeling that this was going to be as hard as I thought it would, maybe even worse.

As the therapist stood up to speak I thought to myself that I wish it was Olivia here instead. She would be able to lift everyone's spirits instead of this balding guy with glasses who talked in a monotone and had me falling asleep. As he explained what he wanted us to do I spaced out and found my eyes drifting over to Logan's mom, Linda. I thought about how much she must love Logan and how badly he was taking her for granted. What made his life so bad that he had to use drugs as his escape? Sure maybe his dad could be a hard ass sometimes, but I'm guessing he doesn't beat him senseless.

I looked down at my intertwined hands and really thought about what I was suggesting. That maybe Logan was taking it too far and risking his life for a reason that wasn't up to par. Who was I to judge though? I don't know the whole story. I haven't seen the full picture.

Maybe I'm just being too harsh on him. Maybe he does have it bad. His parents are here though, ready to help their son in any way they can. It doesn't seem like they're as dysfunctional as Logan's making them seem. Or maybe he has other reasons…like my brother. Knowing what he goes through pushed him to do it. He couldn't handle it so he turned to heroine.

I closed my eyes and shook my head. No, he couldn't. That's just ridiculous. Taking on someone's problems and making them your own? That's not possible.

"Their car just pulled up," the therapist pointed out, "Just greet him like you would normally do and remember to let him know you love and support him."

I kept my eyes down on the floor, feeling cold and scared. I kept thinking about how much better I would feel if Brady were here with me, supporting me and giving me the strength I needed to get through this.

Well, at least Connor was here.

I couldn't stay focused on what I was supposed to do when Cynthia and Logan finally walked through the door. My mind drifted in and out, like I was on the brink of passing out. I prayed I would pass out so I wouldn't have to deal with this.

"Who the hell is that?" I caught a glimpse of his pissed off and confused face when he looked at the therapist. Then his eyes set on the rest of us. He looked apprehensive about what was happening, but Cynthia somehow calmed him down enough to sit on the couch across from me and Connor. His eyes landed on me for a second and he shifted uncomfortably. I met his gaze for a second before I turned my head away and let everyone else take over.

Their voices became background music as I tried to understand why I disliked this so much. I felt the anger deep down inside of me, settling in my gut along with jealously. It was unlike me to hate helping someone out. I played around with the fact that it was Logan who I was helping and soon realized that wasn't the root of it all. No, the real problem was me.

"No, that's not even true. I'm not even using it every day. Once and a while yeah, but you're insane if you think I'm addicted!"

When he shouted it only made the realization of it all hit me faster and harder.

I envied the fact that they caught the problem before it became life threatening and I couldn't even do that for Noah. I was angry because I couldn't see the signs and get my brother help before it escalated. I was frustrated with myself for not 'loving and supporting' Noah like I was supposed to.

My mind came back to reality when Cynthia forced Logan to roll up his sleeves, revealing injection sites all over the place. His parents cried while I sat there blank and unmoving.

I wish I could've seen it, could've taken the gun away from him and helped him.

"You need help Logan," Connor said it beside me, leaning closer to the couch across from us. I wish I could speak but my mouth stayed shut and my body was stuck to the cushion I was sitting on, "We're looking out for you because we care about you."

"I can't stand to see you do this to yourself anymore," Cynthia sobbed with her arm clutched desperately around Logan's wrist, "I love you and I can't imagine losing you because of something I could've easily stopped."

He rubbed his face with his hands and listened to something the therapist said to him about a program to help stop the addiction.

"How did you find out? Did you find something in my room? Or my car?" he seemed to be coming closer to giving in and letting everyone help him. I knew that after I gave him the note that was residing in my pocket it would be my turn to talk and I would have to suck up my anger and self hatred.

"My brother left this in Cynthia's locker three weeks ago," I took out the paper and stood up to give it to him. He snatched it quickly out of my grip and I could see how badly his hands were quivering. As he read over the words I heard Noah speaking them to me in my head. His eyes started swelling up with tears the farther he got.

I wish I could've told Noah one more time just how much he meant to me, how desperately I needed him. Would it have been enough for him to stay? Was it ever enough when I did say it?

"H-He wrote this?" I never heard Logan stutter in my life. He sounded as terrified as I did when I read it for the first time.

I forced the what ifs to stop going off in my head and nodded, "He cared a lot about you, you know." His eyes settled on me and I shifted from one foot to the other, continuing on, "If you don't get help Logan than you could end up just like my brother. Is that what you want?"

He let a few tears stream down his face, "No," he whispered, "I did it to him though. You keep reminding me of that."

This is where I tense up and get ready to say the words I never thought I would to him, "He doesn't think so."

He laughed without a single trace of humor coming out of his mouth, "Not like that ever crossed your mind before. Right after he died you pointed the finger at me just because I made a mistake the night before. If I were in the right state of mind I never would've said that. This letter is just proof that he didn't do it because of me."

I imagined that Noah was here standing beside me, putting his hand on my shoulder to restrain me from strangling him. I swallowed my hate and let everything that I said next be just for Noah, "You're right," I looked him straight in the eye, "It's not your fault Logan. You didn't mean it and I forgive you for what you said. But if you want to show Noah that you really cared for him then you have to stop doing this to yourself and accept our help. You'll only regret it in the end if you don't."

It was probably the most mature thing I've done in my life. I put myself and my own opinions aside and helped out one of the few friends my brother had in his life. Even though I still had my what ifs resting in the back of my mind I was able to focus on doing something good for someone else. I let go of my feelings and spoke in honor of my brother instead.

"See we're all here for you honey. We want you to get better," Linda started from where I left off and I sat back down by Connor, slightly feeling the sting of tears on my eyes.

My mind drifted again, not even caring that Logan didn't tell me how he felt about my apology. The only thing I could focus on again was that even though this issue was getting resolved I was back to square one on the other. I was always going to be stuck on square one because I didn't fully know why Noah left me behind when he's protected me since the first day our father laid a hand on me. It scared the hell out of me to know that I still didn't have the answers when to anyone on the outside looking in would list off at least ten reasons.

"Fine," I barely paid attention to him as he spoke, "I'll do it."

A smile slowly took over everyone's damp faces and I stayed safe inside of my head. I didn't show any sort of emotion or try to give him a pat on the back for stepping up and realizing something was wrong. It proved that apologizing was the only mature thing I was going to do in this situation.

"Mel? Are you ok?" I hadn't realized that Connor stayed beside me until I heard him talk.

"Yeah," I could only say that one word, still bothered by what was going through my head. Watching everyone give Logan a hug and seeing these people surrounding him with love only made it harder to sit here and still act like I was just as happy as all of them.

"We can leave if you want," Connor put a reassuring smile on his face, obviously noticing that my eyes were getting glossy. I grinned back at him for just a second and he was standing, ready to get me out of here.

As everyone else got ready to listen to what the therapist said the next step would be, Connor and I said our quick goodbyes and made our way out of the house. As soon as we stepped out of there and I heard the door click behind Connor I stood still, gripping the railing of the stairs for support.

The fresh air helped the tears clear away from my eyes before they could spill out. I kept reminding myself that I had to breathe, I had to not lose myself to the old Melody I've been trying to rid myself of.

"I'm proud of you for doing that you know," for a moment I envisioned my brother saying it to me instead of my best friend. It would've made my day to just hear him again. I would be able to get through this knowing that he was proud that I stepped up and did the right thing.

_I hope you are, _I thought. I didn't dare let him hear that.

"Let's go. I'll drive for you and we can go back to my place," my eyes fluttered open and I nodded, knowing I wasn't planning to see Brady until after work tonight. It would be nice to hang out with Connor again like we always used to do. Besides, I needed to go back to being the new and improved me.

I took my keys out of my pocket and handed them over to him. On the car ride to his house he never questioned the way I acted and it made me appreciate the fact that we were talking again so much more. When we finally got to his place I shook off all of the issues that I brought upon myself and stepped inside with an open mind.

He managed to make me completely forget about it when he showed me some of the new work he's done over the past couple of months. Photography was a hobby of his that he eventually wanted to turn into a career. I was his number one supporter aside from his parents. The pictures he showed me were only proof that he was getting better and had a natural talent.

He told me to pick out a couple so he could frame them and I could take them home. I pointed to the ones I loved the most and he put them aside, telling me they were officially mine for free. I knew that doing this made him happy and one day he was going to be giving his artwork to people for cash instead.

For a while we sat in his room and talked about everything that happened today as we flipped through photo after photo. Then we eventually started joking about how much we hated the therapist who was there, commenting on his horrible choice of clothing and how his glasses managed to take up half of his face. We kept up this light atmosphere until we were practically crying from how much we were laughing. It made me feel ten times better than I did this morning. When I finally had to go to work I left feeling completely content.

I was able to keep my spirits up for the first couple of hours when we actually had some customers coming through. Since it was late and not too many people had food shopping on their minds I got stuck stocking shelves. That's when it came back to me at full force. I needed something to distract me, but our food products didn't really interest me enough to do it and it's not like there was anyone I could strike up a conversation with right now. I wasn't exactly friends with the employees since most of them went to school with me. So I was stuck staring at the cans of pea soup I was putting on the shelves as I sulked and made myself miserable by thinking of the things I could've done to help my brother.

I slammed a can onto the shelf and grunted when I couldn't take it anymore. It was eating away at me and I wasn't going to let myself be sucked into that black hole of pain. I snuck a glance on either side of me to make sure none of the managers would catch me checking my phone. Technically I wasn't supposed to have it, but it was like high school. People set rules that you feel compelled to break. I checked the time on my phone, feeling like I was about to scream when I saw it was only seven thirty. Great, I still had an hour and a half before my shift was over.

"Hey Melody?" I jumped and quickly slipped my phone back into my pocket. When I turned to see who it was I cringed and got Andrew to laugh at me, "I was just wondering if you could help me out with something over here," he coughed in order to try and cover up the fact that he was practically making fun of me. I had a good reason to be jumpy though. He went to my school and was one of the many people who thought I was a freak, so I wasn't exactly comfortable around him. Why he was asking for my help I will never know.

"Are you going to help me or not?" his patience seemed to run thin from my lack of action. I nodded and followed far behind him as he turned around and headed over to another aisle, "I need you to help me with this spill over here," he pointed to what aisle it was in, "I'll get the mop. Just make sure no one slips and falls."

He left without waiting for me to respond. I walked and saw a broken jar of pickles splattered on the ground. The pickle juice covered the floor while the glass was scattered throughout the aisle. I grabbed a bag from the cabinet full of cleaning supplies and picked up the pieces of glass in my hand, tossing each one into the bag.

Andrew hovered above me for a few minutes just watching me as I worked and acting as if he were my boss. I felt like saying something but kept my mouth shut. He sighed loudly and I wondered what his problem with me was, "Why don't you just go a little slower? We'll still be doing this when the store closes if you do."

Oh so he's going to critique how I work? He really thinks he has some sort of power over me?

Usually I would've felt like crawling into a hole after someone said something like that to me, but I was different now, stronger. I wasn't going to let this impatient asshole try to bring my mood down even more.

"Seriously?" he dropped the mop on the ground, grabbing my shoulder and pushing me back, "Get out. You're clearly incapable of cleaning up a simple spill."

I scowled at his back as he took over my job, not doing it any faster than I did from what I could see. I stood up and brushed myself off, staring at him over my shoulder. He finished picking up the pieces of glass and when I noticed one more he missed I picked it up and handed it to him.

"Take out your cell phone again and I'm telling a manager," he said it to me like I was actually going to run away in fear. All I did was mentally laugh at him for acting like we were still in kindergarten, tattling on me for stealing his toy, "Would you stop staring? Jesus at least try not to act like a freak sometimes would you?"

I scoffed, knowing that I couldn't keep quiet anymore. I had to stand up for myself for once in my life, "Fuck you," I said it loud enough for him to hear it and low enough so no one else would. When I turned on my heels and began walking away I felt his hand grabbed my wrist from behind and he spun me around.

"Say it again and I'll make sure they fire you," his face was inches from mine, brown eyes dark and intimidating. I stood my ground when he flipped over my arm and got a good look at my scars. I didn't pull away, barely noticing my heart speeding up when he examined them, "You're sick you know that? Fucking emo bitch."

"Oh good one," I felt the strength rolling off of every word I spoke, "The amount of brain cells you possess amazes me. I've never heard anyone call me emo before really."

He only seemed slightly confused by the fact that I wouldn't cry for help. I was used to this sort of thing though and I wasn't about to go back to my old ways. Besides, I could tell he wasn't going to hurt me by the way his hand was barely hanging on to my arm. He was only good at the verbal abuse not the physical kind.

I heard someone's footsteps coming from behind me and watched as Andrew's eyes grew slightly bigger. When I felt the warmth getting closer to me and the tingly feeling take over my body I knew it was him. Andrew immediately let go of my arm when Brady growled. Even though he sounded more animal than human I still felt safer and even stronger with him right behind me.

"Clean up this mess and leave her alone," he didn't shout or lose his temper, but he still sounded threatening just by lowering his voice a little.

"Is there a problem here?" Of course a manager would step in now. It was the perfect timing for that to happen.

"N-No there's n-not," Andrew picked up the mop again and went back to his original duty, "I was just cleaning up a s-spill."

"Alright," he nodded all the while staring down the six foot teenager standing behind me, "Melody we're going to need some help at the registers," his eyes were still fixated on Brady, "After you're finished here come up front."

I said a quick ok and he left the three of us alone. Brady walked around me, staring Andrew straight in the face. When he was standing right in front of me I could see that his hands were trembling.

"If I ever see you touch her again I will break every single one of your fingers-,"

"Brady," I hissed, "Taking it a little too far don't you think?"

He looked at me and I saw the way his expression softened when he did. Andrew hurried to finish cleaning up and got away from us as fast as he could, leaving the two of us alone to stare at each other.

"He deserves it," Brady stared down the aisle where Andrew had gone. I placed my hand on the back of his shoulder and he turned around.

"Sure he does, but breaking his fingers? You could go to jail for that."

He shrugged casually, "Not like that would stop me," a smile replaced his harsh scowl, "I can't believe you stood up to him like that."

I chuckled, "I'm just sick of people thinking they're so much better than me. It gets kind of tiring you know? Hearing them all say the same thing over and over again."

He grabbed my hand, lacing his fingers through mine. As he reeled me in closer I felt myself being overcome by his spell once again. I was clearly still addicted to him, "Where's the shy, reserved Melody I first met?"

I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, "She's become a whole new person," I let go of his hand and turned around to bring my extra pea soups to the backroom. I had to remember that I was at work and couldn't get carried away here, "You're almost an hour early."

He followed closely behind me, "I know. I have to pick up some food for the bonfire tomorrow," Right. I almost forgot about that, "I really wish you would go with me."

I picked up the box of soup cans when I reached the aisle and looked up at his face, feeling uneasy since I've been tiptoeing around this subject for a week, "I know and I want to its just-,"

"It's just what?" he grabbed my waist from behind, placing his lips on my neck, "Come on they're great guys. They would never judge you. Besides, I thought you said you were a whole new person?"

I wiggled my way out of his arms, heading for the backroom. When I finally set down the soup I came out to see a puppy faced Brady standing in front of me with his eyes looking big and sad and his frown so depressing that I thought his mouth would fall off his face.

"I know they're you're friends, but it's a lot of people. I mean what if they find out?"

He rolled his eyes, his puppy façade completely gone, "Melody even if they did they wouldn't treat you any differently than I do. They have a lot of issues themselves, believe me. If you just go and let me prove to you that not everyone's going to hurt you right away then I would be the happiest boyfriend ever," he cupped my face in his hands, "Please go?" he whispered in the husky voice he knew made me melt. As his lips got closer to mine I put my hand up as a shield.

"Are you trying to get me fired?"

"Don't change the subject. Give me an answer woman," he demanded.

I laughed and started heading for the front of the store. I knew if I didn't get up there soon I was bound to be in deep trouble, "You promise you'll stay by my side the whole night?"

"Wouldn't think of leaving your side," he still trailed closely behind me. I was surprised that he wasn't stepping on my heels at this point.

"And you won't tell them anything about the shitty situation?" that was what we were officially calling it now. Our code name for my life at home was the shitty situation, and Brady was completely set on getting me out of it as quickly as possible. It seemed like a pipe dream to me.

"My lips are sealed."

I sighed, coming to a stop just before I reached the registers and thinking about whether or not I should go. I mean really? How bad could it be? He would be so happy if I would go meet his friends, so why not? "Alright, I'll go."

"I knew I would get you to crack," he kept a big smile on his face, and it made me feel good knowing that I was the cause of that smile, "Now get back to work."

With one peck on the lips we both went our separate ways, me dreading the final hour of my shift and him buying out the whole store for his food obsessed friends.

* * *

We walked to the back of his house, heading towards the edge of the forest. It had become a tradition of ours to go to our paradise and spend some time alone together. Each night we would stare up at the stars, listening to the sounds that surrounded us. Since it was our way to escape I was more willing to go today than I ever have been before. I needed to talk through everything that happened today.

"You look exhausted," he pointed out my droopy eyelids.

I rubbed away the sleep, "I'm fine," we were just heading through the trees when I accidentally yawned and gave myself away. He laughed at me, grabbing my wrist and slinging me over his back. I grabbed his shoulders and wrapped my legs around his waist, resting my head on his back as he walked with the flashlight glued to his hand. After being his girlfriend for almost four weeks I realized that protesting was pointless when it came to Brady. If he wanted to carry me he would carry me.

"So how did everything go with Connor this morning?" his free arm grabbed my leg to give me more support as he kept stepping over bushes and fallen debris.

I kept my eyes closed and explained everything in detail to him. I kept out the intervention portion of my day for the time being. I wanted to wait to bring it up. After I was finished talking I looked around me and noticed that we were pretty close to our destination.

"You're lucky to have him," I could see just up ahead the cluster of trees that lead into our beautiful spot, "I'm glad you two are talking again. He still probably hates me though."

I scoffed, "Actually I think he's coming around. I mean how could he possibly hate you? You're the definition of perfect."

"That's your opinion," Brady tightened his grip on me and walked through the trees, entering the paradise I have grown to love. He let me stand on my own two feet but kept our hands together. I still couldn't get over how beautiful it was here. Now that the sun was down the moon provided us with a small amount of light, and the stars only added to the amazing shadows that bounced off of the trees. The stream was now sparkling and the birds let the grasshoppers take over the chirping for the night.

I sat down right by the stream, taking off my shoes and socks and letting my feet soak in the warm water. Brady sat beside me, both of us finding the silence comfortable for now.

We got lost in our own thoughts as we sat beside each other. I went back to what I was previously bothered by and by the way Brady was staring at me I could only guess that he was thinking about me. It was typical of him to make me feel like I was the most beautiful thing in the world.

When my thoughts started to overwhelm me again I decided I should try to talk to him instead of bottling all of it up inside of me.

"It's worth it to know places like this exist," I leaned into his side, "that people like you exist. Just makes people like me feel hopeful you know?"

He wrapped his arm around me, rubbing my arm up and down with his rough hand, "When you say stuff like that you usually have something else on your mind. What's bothering you?"

I kind of did give him hints every time I wanted to talk, and this was a big hint. It wasn't like me to just blurt it out randomly just in case he didn't want to hear what I was going to complain about this time. No I had to quiz him before giving him the big exam.

"You really want to know?" I also had to be sure he actually was prepared for my horrible rambling that came along with it.

"I always want to know what's bothering you," he pulled me into his lap which was a sign that he truly wanted to help me get rid of these thoughts stuck in my head. His arms wrapped around my stomach and pulled me up against his skin. I looked down at the water that was sparkling around us, waiting until I got the guts to finally say it out loud.

"At the intervention today I kept thinking about my brother," he tensed a little bit behind me but soon relaxed. I continued when I was sure he wasn't going to regret letting me speak what was on my mind, "I just kept wondering why I couldn't catch the signs before he killed himself. Why I couldn't get him a therapist to help him through his problems," I kept my eyes on our feet, "because maybe if I did then I wouldn't have found him hanging over the side of the bathtub with a pool of blood covering the floor."

His lips were now residing on my left shoulder, providing me with the comfort I needed.

"I feel like maybe he did it not only because of our dad," I hesitated to say it, to let my fears come out in the open. Then again I knew that if I didn't it would only hurt me in the end, "maybe he did it because I didn't love him enough."

Brady's arms stiffened around me and I knew he was going to chew me out for ever saying something like that, "Mel, you can't do this to yourself. You can't question why he did what he did or else it will make you go crazy. Somehow you'll find the answers."

"But how Brady? It's not like he left me a note or anything, and the one Cynthia found doesn't count," I stopped him from considering that a note to me, because half of that had nothing to do with me.

"He left you memories though didn't he? Great memories of how much the two of you loved each other."

"I should've said it to him more," I forced my eyes to dry themselves. I was done crying, "Obviously what I did wasn't enough."

His forehead was now resting on the back of my neck, "Suicide leaves everyone with unanswered questions. From everything you told me you two stuck together and had a bond that no one could understand or be able to break even if they tried. He didn't do it because of you. And as for being able to catch it before it happened? No one could catch something like that."

After he said it I went back to thinking about my own attempt at suicide right after I found his body. I had never told Brady that I committed suicide and was scared of what he would think of me after did it. He knew my brother was capable of it but me? He had no idea. Now was as good a time as ever to let it come out, right?

"I've done it before too. Didn't succeed obviously," I was ready to be thrown out of his lap, flinching every time I felt him move behind me. His heart thudded against my back and I felt it speed up when he heard me. I decided to go on even if he hated me, "I jumped into the water and was ready to die. He was gone? So why should I stay here and suffer more pain? I got about halfway until someone pulled me out."

He literally froze. I thought that he stopped breathing too by the way his face started turning purple, "Do you think I'm crazy?"

For a few minutes he stayed in that state, making my fears take on more control than I wanted them to. It was hard to sit there and wait for a response from him. I was hoping it wouldn't come to this, that he would still see me as the same person as before. Now I was thinking that I would regret ever saying anything to him about that ever again. It obviously made him uncomfortable.

When I had lost all hope of Brady going back to being himself his lips moved, seeming to form words, "…w-was meh," he muttered softly, causing me to only catch bits of what he said.

"What?"

"I-I," he stammered over his words, "I did it."

At first I thought he meant he committed suicide too, but then again it didn't add up to what I just said.

I tried it again, "You did what?"

He sighed, "Don't freak out alright?"

My mind was reeling, hoping that we could stay in this peaceful state. I wanted to know and yet I didn't all at the same time. I had some indication as to what it was, then put it aside when I thought I was nuts for thinking that's what it could be.

"I was the one that saved you the day you jumped off the cliffs."

I laughed for a few seconds, thinking he was joking with me. He couldn't have been there. I didn't even know him when that happened.

Then I remembered that I never said anything to him about jumping off of cliffs.

Suddenly the nightmare played over in my head a numerous amount of times, rewinding and playing, rewinding and playing until I finally realized the brown eyed angel, with his human features and warm arms, also had Brady's face. It was Brady standing over me after he gave me CPR. He was the one that I couldn't keep my eyes off of.

I didn't think it was strange that I found him familiar to me when we first met. I figured it was because I've seen him in school before. Now? Now I knew it was because he saved me that day I tried to kill myself. He was only a familiar face because he saved me from the death I had craved so badly.

Why he saved me? I have no idea.

**WHAT THE HELL? I HAVEN'T WRITTEN A CLIFFHANGER IN SO LONG D: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH **

**ok i'm done. sorry I had to do it.**

**What did you all think? :) did you love it? hate it? wish that Andrew would die from eating pea soup? (insert troll face here)**

**sorry I'm kind of crazy.**

**if you would like to let me know what you thought then leave a nice review! **

**OH and the next chapter will include werewolves, drama, suspense, horror, hotness, and sex...just kidding no sex... (I'm horrible I know D:)**

**be prepared for epicness.**

**~KK**


	24. 22 The New Melody

**WOOO ANOTHER UPDATE! **

**Wow so you have no idea how long it's taken me to write this XD It has been in the process for two weeks because I haven't had a lot of time to write. Now that I'm finally finished I have to say this chapter is soooo long. **

**I hope you all like the long chapters...please like them because this one is about the longest ever. **

**EVERYONE READ THIS: Alright so if you haven't had a chance to read my other story Best Friends No More you might not understand some of the characters included in this chapter. I added a few imprint girls from my other story into this one during the bonfire part. So don't get confused, just go with the flow :)**

**Who got breaking dawn? Me. :) **

**Hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

Song for this Chapter- Ritual by Black Veil Brides (give it a listen because its a very inspiring song by one of my all time favorite artists)

Chapter 22

The New Melody

Recap:

_Suddenly the nightmare played over in my head a numerous amount of times, rewinding and playing, rewinding and playing until I finally realized the brown eyed angel, with his human features and warm arms, also had Brady's face. It was Brady standing over me after he gave me CPR. He was the one that I couldn't keep my eyes off of._

_I didn't think it was strange that I found him familiar to me when we first met. I figured it was because I've seen him in school before. Now? Now I knew it was because he saved me that day I tried to kill myself. He was only a familiar face because he saved me from the death I had craved so badly._

_Why he saved me? I have no idea._

* * *

I couldn't get it out of my head. The only thing my eyes would let me see anymore was Brady's face. Droplets of water fell off of his chin falling onto my soaking wet clothes. He hovered above my body, and the look in his eyes could only be described as complete and utter calmness. My eyes tracked his movements as he told me it was going to be ok, that I was safe now. I felt his breath tickle my cheeks and the heat of his skin causing my shivering to slowly subside. It was everything I didn't realize before, everything that made me feel like a complete fool for not figuring it out on my own.

Brady's arms let up on me and I instantly jumped out of his lap, standing firmly in the glittery stream. I turned around and looked at him, his gaze warily settling on me, trying to predict how I was going to react. I honestly had no idea how I _should_ react.

"You…." My voice trailed off and I felt like I would burst if I let it all out, like everything would change after I asked all of these questions that were residing in my head, "you're the one that pulled me out of the water?"

He nodded, confirming it. It made my throat feel dry and for a second I could've sworn the water had gotten colder because my ankles were now shaking.

"Why would you do that?" I could tell how horrible that sounded by the way his eyebrows drew down onto his eyes. I didn't care though. This was me going back to that day. It was me reliving what was going through my head. For these few questions I was going to have to be the old Melody again so I could understand. I had to think about how I wanted it to be over, how I just felt like I belonged somewhere other than this world. I wanted to be dead and he took that away from me.

I hated the sound of that. He took death away from me. I hated going back to this, but it had to be done. I had to suck it up and get through it.

"I couldn't let you die," he sounded uncomfortable, like he would have rather gone back in time and never even brought it up.

"It's what I wanted."

"No," he cut me off, looking me straight in the eye. His expression intimidated me, making me feel like a child that had just gotten scolded by her father, "You couldn't have wanted that for yourself."

"At the time it seemed like the only option anymore," I watched him as he carefully watched me. He was slowly crumbling from what I was saying and I knew it was because he understood that if he hadn't plunged into the water and saved me then I really would be dead right now. He couldn't bear the thought of not having me here.

"But it wasn't," his features were contorted in fear, "it wasn't the only option for you. You had Connor-,"

"-and no one else at the time. My brother shot himself the same day and I found his dead body. My deadbeat dad hit me every day. My mother couldn't stand the sight of me. Everyone at school thought I was just a lowlife freak," he closed his eyes, trying to act like I didn't just hit him with all of that; "No it really was the only option. No one was giving me a reason to live so my brother's death provided me with a reason to die."

He snarled and stood up, stopping just in front of my face. His frame casted a dark shadow over me, and I felt the strength of his gaze weigh down on my whole body. He couldn't stay angry for long though. Just one look at me and he softened right up. I didn't bother dwelling on the fact that he growled at me. I expected it to come and go that quickly.

He sighed and rubbed his palm over his face, peeking at me through his fingers. I kept a straight face and waited patiently while he calmed himself down. The water splashed as he took one more step towards me. Half of him was now covered in darkness while the moon kept a light glow on the other side, "Answer this for me. Looking back with what you know now and how much things have changed," he paused, clenching his jaw, "would you have regretted doing it?"

I felt a jolt of unexpected surprise run through me. It was a heavy question, but I already knew the answer and I knew why he was asking it. He was only proving his point, "Yes I definitely would have regretted it," I answered him but had something else I could come back at him with, "So is that why you started talking to me? You wanted to give me some other option?"

He flinched, obviously not expecting me to say that. It took him longer than I expected to respond, "Only partially," he whispered.

"What's the other part then?" I pushed on, hoping I could coax some more out of him.

When I didn't get an answer I wanted to scream at him. He brought this up so he had no reason to back down and give up on it now. I needed these answers.

When he suddenly cradled my face in his hands I stopped breathing altogether. Being serious and slightly agitated was ten times more complicated now. I tried not to look at him but he was so stunning that it just made it a lot harder than I thought it would be.

"When I saved you that day it wasn't only a matter of wanting to show you that life isn't so bad. I saw you so vulnerable and fragile and everything changed for me. I became a different person that day."

"You felt like a hero?" I asked, trying to understand. I already saw him as a hero in my mind. He saved me not only from dying and an eternity of regret, but also from a lifetime of pain and hatred.

He shook his head, grinning at me, "I felt like I found a missing part of myself. A part of me that I only realized existed when I saw you. And do you know how amazing that was? To finally feel complete?"

I looked at him, feeling utterly confused, "How could you when I was blue in the face and half dead?"

He winched at that, "Even then I was captivated by you alright? And I knew that I had to be there for you. I needed to put everything I used to be aside and accept the person you made me."

"Brady, you didn't know me," I felt like hitting him upside the head because then maybe he would start making sense. He couldn't feel all of this when he didn't even know the girl whose life he had saved.

"But I felt like I did," his arms tangled around my waist and he pulled my body flush against his, "and I felt like I needed to know even more about you."

"You aren't making sense Brady," I bit my bottom lip, "feeling so strongly about someone who you hadn't said two words to before, someone who just tried to kill themselves is -,"

"Crazy?" I nodded, my cheeks turning red, "Then you might want to send me to a psych ward sometime soon because I feel like it's really not."

I laughed, "You're telling me you actually believe in the whole googly eyed love at first sight thing?"

Love. I said the word love. Out loud. It was weird because it felt so wrong to say and yet so right all at the same time. Wasn't it too early to be implying that this was love? Or was it just the right time? I mean it's only been about a month…

"Well considering the fact that I'm about to kiss the same exact girl who's life threatening actions brought us together I'm going to say yes," he smirked at me, "I do."

I rolled my eyes, but before I could say something snarky back to him he drew his mouth towards mine and closed the space between us, kissing away any doubts I had that he wasn't speaking the truth. It wasn't the whole truth though. I wasn't that dense. I could see he was still hiding something that happened that day. Something wasn't right with his story, because I can honestly say that no one was on the beach when I jumped off of those cliffs. I had made sure no one would see me, and yet somehow he had. At the very moment that I needed to be saved he appeared, making me believe he was some sort of angel. He got himself involved and just knew that he had to get to know me. Something inside of him changed and he needed to meet the girl who made that happen.

How could that even make sense? How could I do that to him? Because I'm pretty sure that trying to kill yourself was definitely a turn off, and any other guy at my school probably would have let me gone through with it. Not Brady. He had something to hide, something he was trying to avoid telling me about and I wasn't going to let it go on any longer.

I was going to figure it out.

* * *

"Wear this one," Brady shoved an old raggedy t-shirt in my face. It was something I bought a few years ago while Noah and I were in Seattle. It was black with a picture of the Seattle skyline on it. I had worn it so much that there was now a hole almost the size of a baseball at the bottom of it. That was definitely _not_ a going out type of shirt. I honestly questioned whether or not he was joking.

"You're not helping," I groaned, "I don't want to look like some slob! I want to look nice!"

He chuckled at my frustration which only annoyed me even more, "I told you ten million times that no one's going to care about what you're wearing."

"Well I do. It's the first time I'm meeting them and I want to look good for once in my life," I turned back to my closet, tapping my foot on the floor and gnawing on the inside of my cheek. I was jealous that Brady was so content while I just felt like throwing up.

Meeting new people was not my forte if you haven't notice. Having a different life at home made it hard to ever talk to people in school, but it's not like people were coming up to me and introducing themselves anyways. Connor was the only exception to that. We kind of just met by chance. He was walking in the hallway, I was walking in the hallway, and neither of us was paying attention. We suddenly collided into each other while our books went flying everywhere. As soon as he started laughing his ass off and I joined in with him we did a quick greeting and bam! Instant friendship.

This was going to be completely different. I was meeting my boyfriend's best friends. From what he's told me they're practically his family, which is just the awesome topper to the whole freaking cake. That is what makes it harder. If they don't like me then I'm pretty much screwed, because in his life family comes first. So if I mess this up then its goodbye Brady. Talk about pressure.

"You're going to miss the whole bonfire if you don't make up your mind," his mockery was not helping the situation.

I skimmed through each of my shirts again, feeling defeated when they all looked too plain for a bonfire. I closed my eyes and buried my face in my hands, "I can't do this," I mumbled, "You might as well go without me because I just_ cannot_ handle this."

He silently stood up from my bed, heading over towards me and grabbing my torso from behind. When he flipped me around I kept my hands firmly over my eyes. I felt his fingers curl around both of my wrists and his thumbs soothingly moved up and down my skin. As he forced me to reveal my face I raked my eyes over his casual dark green t-shirt and cutoff shorts. I questioned how he could look so good even when he was dressed like this while I had to practically wear a dress in order to look halfway presentable.

"I'm not leaving without you," a minty scent filled my nose when he spoke.

"What if they don't approve of me?" I looked up at him through my eyelashes, "These people are so important to you and I don't want to just barge in and force them to accept me."

He revealed his white teeth when he smiled from ear to ear, a low laugh escaping from his mouth, "Are you sure we're talking about the same people here?"

I rolled my eyes. I was in absolutely no mood for jokes right now. He sensed it and placed one encouraging kiss on my forehead, becoming serious again, "You're important to me and they know that. Even if they didn't like you I would kick all of their asses and make them."

I shook my head, "Again, not helping."

"Melody," he ducked his head so that we were now eye level with each other, "They're going to love you ok? Trust me, I know them. Half of them are too happy for their own good while the others just don't know the definition of the word," he twisted his mouth and corrected himself, "I take that back Paul's the only one who doesn't know the definition of the word. Sam on the other hand is questionable. Even if they can be assholes sometimes they do have feelings...somewhere very deep down inside of them," he shook his head to himself, "very very deep down inside…"

I barely even chuckled at that, "That's reassuring."

"I know," he grinned, "Now if you don't pick out something in the next ten seconds I'm going to make you wear whatever I choose."

My eyes widened, "Oh please don't. For all I know you'll pick out sweat pants and an old stained hoodie."

"No I was thinking of going with the less is more approach," he winked slyly at me.

I lightly slapped his arm, "Stand guard and erase everything you were thinking about right now. We don't want daddy dearest walking in on you and your dirty mind," I knew I was lying to myself if I said I didn't immediately picture him half naked with only a baggy pair of shorts on after he said that. It was only my hormones getting the best of me I assumed. Otherwise I would have to slap myself too.

He went to the door, leaning his back up against it and crossing his arms over his chest. He was wearing a cocky grin while staring at me. I shook my head at him and turned back to my bland wardrobe, knowing that I was going to have to make something work. I sighed dramatically and looked over every shirt for the fifth time before something on the ground caught my eye. I had totally forgotten that I picked up a few new shirts from Port Angeles a couple weeks ago with Brady. They were all short sleeved and colorful, hiding in a bag that I threw on the floor. I had meant to hang them up after the trip, but my dad barged in on me so quickly that I had to leave them in the bag and force Brady to hide in the closet. If he had found out that I went shopping and that I had some guy in my room with me he would literally kill me.

I grabbed the bag and tossed it onto my bed, picking out a dark pair of skinny jeans from one of my drawers and turning back to see Brady holding up one of the blouses. It was full of bright colors and had a nice floral print on it. The red stood out the most while the black and lilac added a nice contrast. I remember Brady telling me the green in it brought out my eyes and matched the bracelet he bought me. I was sold the minute his face lit up when he saw me wearing it.

"I forgot about these," he said.

I smiled, "Me too. I think you wrinkled it a bit when you were hiding in there though."

"It's not my fault. You're the one that forced me to go in the closet when I would've rather met your father face to face for the first time. You know? Make a good impression by punching him in the face."

I snatched the blouse and stood a good inch away from him, "Turn around," I demanded, trying to remove the thought of him and my father ever meeting. That would only happen if hell decided to freeze over. I started to change when his back was facing me, "If you ever think of doing that I'm never speaking to you again. Stooping down to his level just so you can teach him a lesson is _not_ ok."

I could hear him grunting at me, "You know he deserves it-,"

"That's beside the point," I zipped up my jeans and pulled my shirt up over my head, throwing it on my bed.

"Why do you defend him?"

I stopped what I was doing, not ready to get into a fight at the moment, "Look can we not talk about this now?"

He turned around and stared at my face for only a second before his eyes began to travel down the rest of me, "Are you doing this on purpose?"

I looked down at myself, realizing I took my shirt off but didn't put the other one on. I was now standing in front of him in only a pink bra and jeans. I could tell what his eyes were focusing on and I quickly covered myself up with the shirt I was still holding in my hands, feeling completely humiliated, "Brady! I never said to turn around!"

"Sorry," he quickly faced the other way again, his smug expression still etched into my mind.

I blushed profusely and hastily put the new blouse on, going over to the mirror without saying anything. I stared at my outfit in the mirror and gave a nod of approval, trying to ignore what just happened. I was in my underwear in front of Brady. I was half freaking naked and he was standing right there. What the hell is wrong with me?

I put some mousse in my hair and didn't pay attention when Brady's face appeared in the mirror above me. We both stayed quiet which only made my face get even hotter. When I finally felt him place his hand on my hip I froze, keeping my focus on my shirt.

He brushed my hair away from my neck with a single finger and pressed his warm lips to the skin right below my ear.

"Don't be embarrassed," I felt another kiss in the same exact spot, "You're gorgeous."

Ok, now my cheeks were definitely on fire. Never has he said I was gorgeous. Beautiful, yes, but gorgeous? It has never been applied to me before. And any girl had to know that gorgeous was just a step up from beautiful.

As he placed more infectious kisses up my neck and along my jaw I stood there and began to slowly lose my train of thought, wanting more.

Once he pulled away for the slightest second I twisted my body around towards him, his hand that was residing on my stomach was now hooked around one of the belt loops on my jeans.

"You know you're making me go insane right now? I can't even-," I cut him off by kissing him right on the lips. He immediately started battling with me, his tongue trying to pry my mouth open but I tortured him and didn't give him exactly what he wanted. I wrapped my arms around his neck and bit his bottom lip with my teeth, forcing him to let out a playful growl. Brady's hands travelled down to my thighs, grabbing them firmly in his hands. I twined my fingers through his short hair and finally let my tongue slip into his mouth.

One minute my feet were firmly on the ground, supporting me, and the next minute I was being picked up and plopped down onto the dresser. It caused half of my stuff to fall onto the ground which only forced a giggle to come out of me. Now that we were the same height it made it easier to kiss the crap out of each other, and that's exactly what we did for what seemed like forever. We explored new boundaries and enjoyed the fact that we belonged to each other, that none of us were planning on giving the other up any time soon. I can say that I've never felt more confident about a relationship before.

Brady began nipping on my neck, giving me time to breathe. His teeth pinched my skin over and over again and it caused me to moan. I knew that if he kept this up I was going to have a huge hickey on my neck by the end of the night. How lovely.

Our mouths connected again, but it didn't take long for them to be parted. Brady pulled away from me so quickly that it just left me feeling unsatisfied.

"Your dad's coming," he placed one finger on my lips and I kissed it, causing a devilish smile to take over the straight face he was wearing.

I heard footsteps outside, not even caring that he was out there. I knew he wouldn't come in here.

When I could faintly hear the creak and click of a door being opened and closed I saw Brady's muscles immediately relax. I linked our fingers together, wondering why he was so worried about my dad possibly walking in on us in here. Usually I was the one freaking out and he was the one saying he didn't care if my father saw him, not the other way around.

Brady stared at our hands while I just wanted to get back to our previous make out session, "Can we please continue what got so rudely interrupted?"

He shook his head, not even cracking a smile at that, "I'm pretty sure if we kept going on I never would've stopped."

I had to laugh, "Right, like I'm going to believe that."

He grazed his thumb over my cheek, "I'll get carried away."

I sighed and rested my head on his shoulder, nuzzling my nose against the side of his neck, knowing that this might just get him to give in, "Fine don't kiss me," my hands slipped under his shirt and I grazed my hands over every inch of his perfectly sculpted stomach. His breathing stopped for a moment and I smiled, "I'll just have to settle for teasing you all night I guess."

Brady grunted, pulling away from me so he could see my face. I stared at his dark brown eyes, showing him how much I wanted to kiss him again.

"We have to go," he forced me to place my hands down at my sides. I sat in front of him, feeling completely stupid for ever thinking I could even seduce him. That was laughable, me seduce that hot piece of work? Right, "As much as I want to kiss the hell out of you right now we're never going to make it," he tucked a piece of hair behind my ear.

I nodded, "Alright but you owe me," I poked his rock hard pec, "This hickey is already starting to show."

"Sorry," he said sheepishly, "you can give me one later."

I chuckled, "Can't wait for that."

* * *

My stomach dropped when we finally reached the beach. I sat on my hands just so that Brady wouldn't see how badly they were shaking. When the engine was turned off I stayed glued to my seat. I heard the click of my seatbelt as Brady undid it for me. His eyes were burning a hole through the side of my head and I couldn't even find it in me to look at him.

I didn't want to screw this up. I wanted to come out of it having more people in my life, more reasons to show me how much my life is worth living. With the way I'm acting right now I didn't think there was any chance of that happening.

"Melody breathe," he placed his hand on top of my arm, "You're going to have a panic attack if your heart doesn't slow down soon."

My eyebrows furrowed at that. How the hell could he hear my heart from all the way over there?

I would have to take a mental note of every single weird thing he does or says from now on.

All of a sudden my door opened and I hadn't even realized that Brady got up until he was standing right in front of me.

"Come on," he took my hand, "I'll be there with you every step of the way."

For a second, I put aside everything I was getting worked up about and only thought about how patient he was being with me. The whole day he's been right at my side supporting me, keeping me on my feet when I felt like falling over. He's been so understanding and hasn't gotten frustrated with me at all, which is all the more reason why I don't deserve him.

I put on a small smile and stepped out of the car, causing him to get a better grip on my hand. My lack of hesitation was what kept him moving and I didn't dare to turn around and go back. We didn't say anything else as we headed for the beach. I could slightly hear laughter and shouting ahead as the smell of smoke filled up my nose.

The sand seeped in between my toes and covered my sandals. I kept my eyes forward as we inched closer to the voices and the stench. The whole time I clutched onto Brady like I would suddenly float away if I didn't have him here keeping me firmly on the ground.

"Look who finally decided to show up," I didn't recognize the voice when I heard it and I couldn't even tell you how weird it was to see that all of the guys basically looked like they were clones of each other. I mean the dark skin and short hair, and the full set of huge muscles. It made them all seem like they could possibly be _trying_ to look like each other. Even their height was impressive. I thought Brady was tall? He had nothing on the guy standing in front of us right now.

"We figured you either had car trouble or you two got a little carried away before you got here," oh hell no. Please tell me he did not just say that. Please tell me he's not looking at us like he just thought something dirty.

"She's blushing. I win! Twenty bucks," I stared down at the sand, trying to ignore all of their smug faces.

"Really Embry? You had to bet on something like that?" Brady started snarling at the guy –Embry I'm assuming- standing off to our right.

"Easy twenty bucks," he shrugged, grabbing the money that was being reluctantly handed to him.

"Embry learn some manners," my eyes wandered up slowly and all I saw were the scars that were slashed across the woman's face that was walking towards us. I felt comfort knowing that someone else had scars like I did.

"Don't feel embarrassed, Embry just has really bad people skills," another dark haired girl stood next to the one with the scars. Her eyes resembled most of the guys that were scattered around the beach and I could already tell that she was definitely nothing like me. She was probably outgoing and fun to be around while I couldn't even start a conversation with someone if I wasn't told exactly what to say. Her hand extended out towards me, and a smile lit up her round face, high cheek bones, and pink pouty lips, "I'm Sammy," she said.

I took her hand and shook it, "Melody."

"Don't worry about these guys, they're harmless. Especially Brady over here," she slapped his arm, "You picked a good one. He couldn't hurt a fly even if he tried."

"Excuse me? I'm pretty sure I've taken out my own share of-,"

"Not now Brady," the woman with the scars gave Brady a stern look, a secret hiding behind her beautiful brown eyes. When she turned her attention onto me she half smiled, one side of her lips being pulled down by the scars, "It's so great to finally meet you Melody," she suddenly wrapped her arms around me and I reluctantly let go of Brady's hand to hug her back, "I'm Emily."

"Hey now, let's not smother her to death," the guy that had won the bet came up towards us, his grin indicating that he was the jokester of the group, "I'm so glad you're actually real," once Emily had let go of me, Embry squeezed me half to death in what I guess you could say was an attempt at a hug, "I was worried little Brady was making you up."

"Yeah," I coughed, my lungs begging me for air, "looks like he's not crazy after all."

I got a couple laughs to come out of that dumb little joke. Brady kept his eyes firmly on me, silently asking if I was alright so far. I grinned at him, indicating that I was fine.

It seemed like almost everyone was standing in a line to come up and meet me. It felt odd to have people eager to see me. I wasn't used to this feeling. I didn't really know that this many great people existed in the world. They were all so welcoming that I had no idea why I ever doubted that they would like me. I could already tell that I was going to get along with all of them.

I watched intently as all of the guys started to build a fire and set up chairs for all of us. Brady stayed close to me while he threw some firewood into the mix and I kept staring at every single guy in the group. Paul and Jared were getting the matches while Embry and Jacob put the chairs in an orderly circle. The wood was piling up right in the middle and Quil and Seth took the drift wood that Brady and Collin were handing to them.

I was completely amazed by how much they all worked like a team. They were such a tight knit group that I couldn't help but consider all of them brothers. There was bickering here and there, but there was also a less serious side to all of them. I could see it in the way they each treated each other. They truly cared for each other, just like a family would. Sam, I realized, was more like the authority of the group. He gave the orders and called the shots and yet he was the one that kept the family spirit alive. He was the father figure to all of them.

"Hey Melody?" Emily asked from behind me.

I took my eyes off of the guys and turned my attention on her, "Yeah?"

"Can you go see what Claire and CJ are doing over there? I don't want them to get too close to the water."

Leah, Emily, and the rest of the girls were starting to take piles upon piles of food out of all of the containers neatly stacked on top of the picnic table that was previously set up.

I looked off towards the ocean where Emily and Sam's son and little Claire were both teetering their way along the coast.

"Sure," I said, looking at Brady before I headed towards the toddlers. Claire was talking to CJ as she picked something up in the sand and placed it in the red bucket that was set up next to her. CJ stared up at her with wide eyes as she kept putting things inside the bucket.

"Hi Claire," I smiled, crouching down beside the two of them, "What do you got in there?" I pointed to the bucket.

Claire giggled and dug her hands through the sand, searching for something, "I'm getting shells!" she exclaimed.

I chuckled, "Shells huh? I love collecting shells."

"Wanna help?" she asked.

I nodded, "Sure."

We set out and searched for the biggest and best shells, and surprisingly we found a whole bunch of them. I led her and CJ to where the tide was coming in and pulled out shell after shell from the sand. The sun was getting closer and closer to peaking behind the water for the night, and after almost an hour of shell picking CJ got cranky and Claire yawned continuously.

After the guys were finished setting up they started playing football around us. I took Claire in my lap and sat in the sand, watching them tackle each other and run back and forth with the ball. Emily had CJ sleeping in her arms while the rest of the girls sat on either side of me. All five of us chatted peacefully, and I found myself cracking a joke here and there, talking to them like I had known them for years.

My eyes stayed glued to Brady the whole time though. Once and a while he would send a smile my way and I would send a reassuring one right back to him. It felt so good to be here, feeling comfortable with myself and with the people around me. At this point I had no doubt that these people would judge me. And I couldn't be more content with where I am in my life right now.

I have the most amazing guy on the face of this planet. I've felt more alive now than I ever have before, and even though nothing at home has changed I still feel like the luckiest girl in the world. The holes and cracks are now being filled. And I realize that this is something I never thought I would be able to say before. I had never felt so strong in my entire life. Brady lifted me up and set me back on my feet, and he showed me everything that makes life beautiful. I think I'm falling in lo-

All of a sudden, sand flew in my face as the football landed right next to me. Claire giggled while I shook my hair in order to get all of the tiny grains of sand out.

"Sorry! Are you alright?" Paul asked and it was the first time he had actually sounded like he was in a good mood. I can admit that Brady was right about him being the angry one of the group.

"I'm fine," I responded, grabbing the ball in my hand and forgetting what I was thinking about before. I set Claire on the ground next to me and stood up, bringing my arm back and sending the football flying through the air and right into Paul's own hands.

"Damn the girl can throw," Jared commented from the sidelines, "Do you play football? Cause I could've sworn that you didn't just throw that like a total girl."

I laughed, shrugging, "I used to play with my brother sometimes. It was nothing major, just tossing the ball back and forth."

"I want her on our team!" Paul swatted Embry on the back of his head.

"How about we all play?" Sammy stood up, her eyes glued to Paul. I saw that look in her eyes that Kim and Dana had when they looked at Embry and Jared. It was oddly the same exact, "drool all over you're so damn hot" look that I got whenever I saw Brady. Was I supposed to find it strange?

"Yeah, that sounds like fun," Kim joined in. Soon Emily and Dana were nodding their heads in unison.

"Fine, we'll play girls against guys. No tackling," Paul snickered at his wife from across the beach, "couples against couples."

"You're going down hubby," she quirked her eyebrows at him.

I shook my head, "Isn't that kind of unfair?" I asked Kim.

She chuckled, "Melody. With these guys all you have to know is one thing. They'll do anything you want. Say you have a sliver; they take you to the ER. Start crying, they take their shirts off so you can use it as a tissue. Trust me. We can use it against them."

I looked at her, completely confused. How was that even possible? I mean yeah Brady's protective and overreacts sometimes, but would he really take it so far as to freak out if I suddenly got a scrape on my knee? Well, he _has_ done it before…

When we finally agreed to play we all got into our own official huddle and started to figure out what we were going to do. We had Leah on our team, which helped with the whole strength part of the jist, but that still didn't help the fact that we were up against some huge competition. Literally.

"You be the wide receiver and I'll be the quarterback since we're the only ones that really know how to play."

"Hey!" Dana feigned a hurt expression on her face.

"Dana, when have you ever played football?" She shut up immediately, trying to play it off like she didn't care what Sammy said, "I rest my case."

"I never said-,"

"Melody, you're up against Brady. It'll be easy."

Sammy gave the rest of the positions while I took a peek over at the other huddle going on at the other side of the beach. I thought for a moment about what I could do to get past all of that muscle over there. Would Brady really let me win? I mean come on he's not _that_ attached to me. I couldn't actually pretend to be hurt and freak him out right?

I guess it's worth a shot.

Once we spread out into our spots on the 'field' my heart completely warmed up when Brady stood right in front of me. Before I could say something he captured my lips in a brief kiss.

"I feel like I haven't seen you all day," he crouched down in front of me and I imitated his stance, ready to test out my theory.

"I know, it's kind of pathetic," I glanced over my shoulder, only to be met with a wink from Sammy. She believed I could do it so why couldn't I? "I'm having a lot of fun though. You're right they're all great."

"See I told you," he half smiled, "You're just a worry wart."

"Worry wart?" I raised an eyebrow at him, "I'm the worry-,"

"Hut hut!"

My eyes widened and I ran to exactly the spot Sammy told me to. I waited until Brady was out of the way to throw my hands up and let her know I was open. He kind of stayed out of the way though, trying to make it easier for me. Sammy passed me the ball and I jumped in order to catch it. When I had it in my hands I ran towards the end of the field, only thinking about what I was going to do when Brady caught me, because I honestly knew I wouldn't outrun him.

I heard shouts of encouragement from behind me and only ran about five feet before I was scooped off of the ground. I tried to resist the urge to smile and laugh, waiting for the right moment so I could trick him.

As soon as he squeezed me a bit I screamed out in pain, making it as believable as possible, "Ow! What the hell Brady you're hurting me! Let go of me!" I squirmed and twisted, trying to make it convincing.

And he let go of me like I was fire and he just burned his hand. I giggled at how smoothly my plan worked, watching as Brady's face turned from horror to shock in less than a second. I ran as fast as I could into the endzone, listening as all the guys groaned and the girls cheered me on. I pushed further, not even attempting to slow down. As soon as I made the touchdown I did my own little victory dance, feeling like I had won a prize or something.

"That was totally unfair!" Seth was now hanging his head in defeat, "Just because she's your impr-,"

"Seth! Shut your damn mouth," Brady gave him a stern and serious look, only slightly making my grin fade away. I added that slip up to my list of weirdness.

"I think we're in trouble," Collin pointed out from the middle of the field, "With all these loved up fools here we're never going to win."

"What are you talking about? Melody got that touchdown fair and square. You guys just underestimate us," Kim pointed out, trying to make it seem like we were doing nothing wrong.

"But-,"

"But nothing. You guys are just gonna have to put up with all of us. Don't worry we'll let you get a couple points here and there," it was probably the first time I heard Leah talk. She's been quiet the whole day, except for maybe saying a hey when I first met her. Right now she seemed to actually be enjoying herself.

It didn't take long for us to start the game back up again. Leah, Sammy, and I all took turns being the wide receiver, getting touchdowns left and right. It wasn't until the guys were on offense that we were losing ground. We weren't much of a match for those six packs. Well Leah was, but the rest of us were easy to take out. It was as easy as picking up a bunch of flowers in a meadow.

We had to stop the game when it started getting darker. The guys were reluctant to stop because we were winning, but Sam had the fire ready and all the food was splayed out on the table so we called it quits. All of the girls got to get our food first and as soon as I asked why, they told me to wait and see. I realized what they were talking about immediately after I sat down. All the guys were attacking the food like it was all going to grow legs and run away if they didn't get it soon. When Brady came and plopped himself down in the chair next to me I had to do a double take. He had three burgers, four hot dogs, one full plate of potato salad and another full of various other stacks of corn, bread, and salads. It took me a minute to process the fact that he was expecting to eat all of that, and when I was barely even finished with my small hot dog he finished off more than half of his plate.

It didn't occur to me until I looked around the fire that all of the guys had the same amount of food on all of their plates. I was surprised that the Elders were able to get any food since they showed up last for the bonfire. I honestly didn't even know what they were doing here until after dinner when everyone settled down and stared expectantly at Jacob's father, Billy.

He cleared his throat and that was all it took for everyone to become completely quiet. Brady whispered for me to listen and I did, completely hanging on Billy's every word as he recited the Quileute legends. I had heard them from Brady before, but not like this. Billy spoke with so much passion and so much force that I felt like he was speaking as if they were all true. I had to convince myself that that's why they were called legends, because they couldn't possibly be real. Stuff like that cannot exist.

For the rest of the night I let the thought of that flip back and forth through my mind. One instant I was considering the fact that it could happen, but then I could come up with something that had to make it impossible. This battle went on inside of me for a while and I only jumped back into reality when Brady had kissed me on the cheek.

"Time to go," he whispered to me, slipping his arm around my waist and helping me stand. I rested my head up against his arm, wiping the sleep away from my eyes with my hand and barely even noticing that everyone else was packing up and leaving too. It seemed as if the night passed all too quickly for me. I found myself wanting to do it again next weekend. We said a quick goodbye to everyone before piling into Brady's Chevelle.

I rested my cheek up against the glass window and stared out at all of the trees we were passing, my eyes getting heavier and heavier each passing second, "I can't believe they liked me," it came out of my mouth before I could even stop it.

"I never doubted that they would," I felt his eyes staring me down, and I always felt the strange spark run through me whenever he did it.

"Are you staying tonight?" I asked, trying not to sound too hopeful in case he had to go to 'work' tonight. Another thing to keep tabs on, I never even found out where he worked, just that sometimes he had to work overnight so he couldn't stay with me all the time.

"I have to go home for a little bit. You know, let my parents know that I'm alright, but after that I'm all yours."

I smiled, "Good," and that was all I could get out before I fell asleep, replaying everything that happened today in my head.

* * *

I woke up in my room in a rush, startled by the crashing noise I heard coming from outside. I passed it off as nothing for now, figuring it could just be thunder.

Sitting up, I looked out at the water that now covered my window. He was going to be here soon, I just have to sit it out and wait. I mean he can't just forget me can he? If only it wasn't raining, then I wouldn't be worried that he would want to stay home instead of get soaked just to come and see me.

Another loud crash caused me to jump. I wanted so badly to say that that was thunder again, but something inside of me was telling me differently.

_Garage_

I heard Noah's voice for the first time in over a month. Hearing it was like a stab to the heart, trying to rip open the wound that Brady was closing. I didn't even know why I had to hear it again. I mean I was getting better. I didn't need to hear it anymore.

An angry scream was what convinced me that the voice was right, something was going on in the garage. Why should I even care though? I was safe up here. I didn't have to go out there and investigate something that might not even be happening. Plus, it's raining. I'm in no mood to get wet.

One more bang.

_He's destroying everything._

A ripping sound here.

_All of my work will be in pieces if you don't get your ass out there. _

A sawing sound there.

"He'll hurt me," I said it out loud, hoping that he would respond. I was only met with the sound of more horrible noises, "I don't want to get hurt."

_He's destroying everything that made me who I was. Do you want that to be gone? _

"No," my lips trembled as I answered back. For a while I've been able to keep myself out of harm's reach, but now I was going to risk it all just for a bunch of my brother's work plus his car. His stuff meant everything to me though. I couldn't let it be turned into nothing. I cared more about my brother than I did about myself, so how could I let that part of him be destroyed?

I groaned and rolled out of bed, not even hesitating to open the window. I was immediately soaked the second I got out of the house. When I was on the ground all my bare feet were met with was pure mud. One more crashing sound and I was full out running to the garage. The light was on, so he had to be in there. Now it was all a matter of whether or not he would hurt me or leave me alone.

My body started shaking when I flew through the doorway. I stopped and watched as he smashed and sawed and completely ruined everything my brother had built with his own two hands. I wanted to be strong, I wanted to be the new Melody, but right now I just felt like leaving him to do as he wanted. I wanted to run back and hide under the covers in my room.

I gasped when he suddenly threw one of the chairs at Noah's car, causing the windshield to shatter into huge pieces. As soon as he turned around he looked straight at me. My mouth clamped shut and I was ready to back away if he even took a step towards me.

"We need to get rid of all of this bullshit. Go get a broom and sweep up this glass."

His voice was a lot calmer than usual. The words didn't sound as slurred as they always did.

"No," I protested without even realizing what I was doing to myself. I was only motivating him to hit me.

"What did you just say?" He narrowed his eyes at me and I cringed at the sight.

"I'm not going to let you touch his stuff. I won't let you ruin anything more than you already have." I felt my mouth moving on its own. It was like someone was talking through me and I had no control over what they were saying.

The new Melody inside of me was pushing me to do it. She was forcing me to stand up for myself and let him know I wasn't going to take it anymore. She wouldn't let me turn into the old Melody again. The scared and damaged girl who was weak.

I wanted to say I felt confident after I spoke my mind. I wanted so desperately to tell everyone I walked out of there without a scratch on me. I was strong and brave. I changed my father's horrible ways.

But that's not how it played out.

It didn't occur to me that there were so many objects he could hurt me with in here. He had so many options, but he only chose one. He chose the biggest shard of glass resting on the ground, and I didn't even have time to react, because he lunged toward me. He grabbed my arm so tightly that I could already tell it was bruising. He pushed the glass so deep into my skin that I bled.

"You're the one that ruins everything," my own father was now slicing my arm with the sharp glass. He was cutting me from elbow to wrist, not even caring that I was crying out in pain, "You and your brother ruined _everything_ for me! I had a career! I had a life before you two! And you took it all away!"

"Stop!" I screamed, only realizing a second later that I had never heard him admit that before.

The blood dripped down onto the floor and when he finally felt satisfied with how much he cut me he stopped, grabbing my neck in his hand, "You tell someone I did this to you and I swear to God I'll kill you."

"Kill me?" I sobbed.

Before he could respond a howl ripped through the garage, so loud that it made my father yelp. He let go of me as soon as he snatched me up and when he ran out of the garage I collapsed onto the ground, watching the blood pour out around me.

I looked down at my arm, seeing how deep the cut really was. It wasn't something I could just bandage up. I needed more than a small first aid kit and by the looks of how much blood is gushing out, I would need to go to the hospital. If only I had stayed up in my room. If only the new Melody didn't have to be such a risk taker, then maybe I wouldn't be lying in my own pool of blood right now.

**I can honestly say I've been waiting to write the ending of this chapter for SOOO LONG. It's been in my head waiting to be put onto Word and now it is officially there. (tears up) Yay**

**SO what did you all think? Too long? Just the right length?**

**Did you enjoy the Brady and Melody mushiness? Cause I did :)**

**Please review! Thank you for reading**

**~KK**


	25. 23 Love Knows No Boundaries

**Only a little bit over a week since my last update :) I'm getting better at this! haha **

**First of all, thank you to everyone that has favorited/alerted/reviewed this story and especially the last chapter. I honestly am amazed that you all like this story. I am so glad I'm not just doing this for my own personal enjoyment but for yours as well. That is so awesome! (omg...can't stop saying awesome lately. I have problems -_-)**

**So I just want to say this chapter turned out to be pretty close to every original idea i had for it. The ending might be a little lack luster (possibly its up to you though) I did write the end at 3 in the morning (time it is now uggghh) If I wake up tomorrow and read over and don't like it i might edit it a bit. Who knows though.**

**I hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as the others! And again thank you for your dedication! :) you are all amazing! (didn't use the word awesome HA :D)**

Song for this Chapter- Safe and Sound by Taylor Swift feat. The Civil Wars ( I know its from the Hunger Games but it fit so well with the chapter and I've fallen in love with this song! even though i highly dislike every other song Taylor Swift has ever written...)

Chapter 23

Love Knows No Boundaries

_Noah put himself right in front of me. His hands were balled up into fists, ready to defend himself like always. He was taking the beating for me, being the protective brother that I loved and hated all at the same time. Hated because I didn't like seeing him with bruises all over him, bruises that were way worse than the ones I got._

"_Where were you all weekend? You let the house become a goddamn mess. It looks like a complete dump in here all because you had to run off!" he shouted and made his liquor fly out of the cup it was previously sitting in._

"_Noah," I whispered, grabbing his arm, wanting to get us both out of here._

"_Don't worry about me Mel. Just go upstairs."_

"_Shut your trap you son of a bitch," he swatted Noah right across the face. Noah tried to act like he was unaffected by it just for my sake. He knew I hated seeing this happen to him, but I wasn't about to be a coward and leave him here to deal with it on his own. I was going to stick it out right beside him._

"_You could've easily cleaned this shit up yourself!" I winced as my brother screamed right back at him. The backlash was only going to make it worse, but he was getting sick of taking his crap so I could understand where he was coming from, "I'm done being your slave," I could see the anger in his eyes, "because you and I both know I'm not your son."_

_A punch right in Noah's gut caused him to fall to the ground. I felt tears silently spilling out of my eyes, and just as I was about to help him up his own fist went flying right back at our father, making contact with his left cheek. One more punch to the same spot and he turned towards me._

"_Melody go upstairs. Now," he demanded._

_I shook my head, "You can't do this on your own."_

_Before he could respond, the monster completely rammed into him, causing him to end up on the ground again. _

"_Get," Noah coughed, "out of here."_

_I felt my face sting when his hand finally hit my face. It made me wobbly and I didn't even have time to catch myself before he punched me right in my side. _

_When I fell to the floor I stared at my brother's face, filled with hurt and rage. I knew part of that rage was geared towards me since I didn't listen to him, but I could take it. I could get through it knowing that I didn't act like a weakling and leave him to deal with this by himself._

_Noah got the rest of the beating. He was kicked and hit until our father got sick of it, and once it was all over and we were alone, he said something I never expected him to say, "I'm sorry."_

_It made me hurt worse. I knew that none of it was his fault and yet he was willing to put the blame on himself because I was hit too. He thought he was the one responsible for me getting hurt, when all I could think about right now was how much I had to thank him for always protecting me._

* * *

I got up from the ground as gracefully as I could when I was sure he had gone into the woods to hunt down the wolf that howled. Blood stained my new clothes and my vision was beginning to blur because of how dizzy I felt. It took me a minute to catch myself so I wouldn't fall over. I stood for a moment to be sure I was balanced, and I managed to carefully walk my way out of the garage in one piece. I had my unscathed left hand on the cut in order to make the bleeding stop, but it was hopeless. The bleeding was never going to stop unless I got it stitched up. It was way too deep.

Rustling in the trees forced me to look towards them, and I heard a low grumbling noise. I was hoping it was my wolf, and then I felt stupid for even thinking about that right now when my blood was painting the grass red.

As I headed for the back door, I heard the rustling again and looked back at the black forest. I could see the wolf's eyes, only slightly noticing its fur was grey. It was so close to the house and he didn't even notice it. He didn't even catch the wolf this time. And by the way its ears are standing up, alert and focused, I could only believe it knew that my dad was out there. Did it howl because of me?

I couldn't answer the question, because I practically heard the blood drip its way out of my body, which only made me feel queasy. It watched me with careful eyes as I hurried my way into the house. I only looked away from it when my dizziness started getting worse.

I grabbed the nearest towel I could find in the kitchen and ran up to my room, locking the door behind me. The window was still open and the rain was now dropping on my window seat, soaking the fabric.

I took a single step forward so I could close the window when I suddenly saw black dots impair my vision. There was a ringing in my ears and my whole body felt like it was ready to shut down on itself. I was convinced it did when I suddenly collapsed to the floor.

"Don't close your eyes, don't close your eyes," I kept chanting this to myself, knowing things would only get worse if I were to pass out. It helped me focused though, "Don't close your eyes, don't close your eyes," I made them stay open the whole time I laid there.

I took a glance at my arm, seeing the towel was soaked in red. The gash in my skin was deep enough to see some tissue, and I knew by how much blood was pouring out of me that I needed to get to a hospital fast. Who knew he was capable of cutting me so bad. I guess I should've expected it though.

It didn't take long for my arm to feel like pins and needles were digging into my skin. I put some more pressure on the cut, feeling completely helpless and just…so damn tired-

No! Keep your eyes open. No no no. You're _not_ doing this.

Ugh, it hurts so bad. If I just close my eyes for a little while-

"Melody!" I heard a panicked voice fill my ears instead of my own voice, causing the ringing to get louder. It made my eyes go wider and I was able to focus on staying awake better.

Brady rushed over to me, water dripping off of his body. His chest was bare and his feet were caked in mud, only visible because he had no shoes on.

He took my arm in his hands, taking the towel off of it to see the damage that was done. I heard him curse above me and all I could do was keep chanting over and over again.

He stood up for a moment and went to my closet. I only stared out at the moon that hung in the sky, my window now closed. A ripping noise and more angry curse words made me hiss in pain. Soon enough my arm was being wrapped in my old Seattle t-shirt, and I looked up at his face to keep me calm.

"Stay awake Mel," he murmured softly to me, "I'm gonna take you to the hospital ok?"

I nodded, feeling every part of me stop shivering as soon as he picked me up in his arms. I buried my face into his chest, wanting to get completely lost in him so I could forget about what was happening. I wished this never had to happen at all. I could be snuggling up to him in bed instead of clutching onto him to save my life, "I'm s-s-sorry."

"Don't _ever _say that," his voice had a slight edge to it, indicating that he was trying to put aside his anger towards what happened for me, "I shouldn't have left you alone here," he hurriedly headed out of my room, and I kept my eyes on his skin, concentrating on that instead of the pain and dizziness.

"Be careful, h-he's outside," I mumbled into him.

"I don't care," the seriousness in his tone made me flinch a little. I restrained myself from looking up at his face. I don't think I could bear seeing it. I knew he was worried about me, but the hate he felt for my father was overpowering that right now and it made my arm hurt more knowing that.

My eyes felt like weights the longer I was in his arms, and I couldn't ignore the fact that unconsciousness was getting closer to taking me over. It would be so much better if I could go into the darkness. At least it would be painless there.

"Brady, I-I ca-," I couldn't get the word out because I didn't have the strength to move my lips anymore.

"Hold on, stay with me Melody please?" he begged desperately, "We're at the car ok? Just keep your eyes open. Can you do that for me?"

I shook my head and was about to say something when someone else beat me to the punch, "You have to give me directions, Sam. I barely know where the hell I'm going from here!" I recognized that pissed off voice and my eyelids lifted almost instantly.

"Paul?" my voice sounded weak and it scared the hell out of me. Things were getting bad, and they were getting bad extremely fast. I took in my surroundings, feeling dumbfounded when I realized we were in Brady's car and I was still sitting in his warm lap. I don't even remember us getting in here, "He knows?"

It was so hard to sound like I was freaked out when passing out was the top priority on my mind at the moment.

"It doesn't matter, just focus on staying awake. Are you in a lot of pain?"

I moaned, looking into his eyes, finding comfort in how they were the perfect shade of brown. I wanted to keep them in my head and never forget them. I wanted to take a mental picture of their perfection and hold onto their beauty for as long as I live.

"A left or a right? Damn it why don't you just make it simple?" Paul's voice only made me wince. The sound of it reminded me that my secret was now exposed to him too.

I tried to concentrate on what I was being asked before and not think about that, "It stings," I heard the drumming of my pulse in my ears and I could feel my heart pumping my blood out of my body and onto my new shirt and Brady's stomach.

"The blood is," the metallic scent hit me like a ton of bricks, "it's making it hard to…stay…awake."

"She's losing a lot of blood Paul," Brady's gaze travelled away from me and I wanted to protest and tell him to look at me again, but I didn't even have the energy to do it.

"I'm going as fast as I can! We're almost there just keep pressure on her arm."

"Calm down or else there'll be more than just one accident happening tonight."

"Asshole," he snarled at Brady.

In spite of all the crapiness I felt, I managed to let out a strained laugh. Was it weird that I felt like laughing now out of all times? Maybe I was just getting loopy from the blood loss.

Brady didn't seem to notice it at all though. I was thinking that his mind was somewhere completely different than mine, and I didn't even have to guess to know where that was. He was probably picturing beating up my father, teaching him a lesson of his own. He wanted to make him feel the same pain I felt. He's wanted to do it for a while, and tonight pushed him right over the edge.

"Bray," I have no idea where the'd' in his name went. I was too weak to even try and fix my small mistake.

"What's wrong?"

My lips twitched up into a slight grin so he could see that I was alright, "Don't be mad," I muttered.

"Sam you better get your shit together because she's not going to hold on if you don't tell me exactly where to go next! Do I take a left at the next street or the one after?"

I ignored Paul's shouting, focusing solely on how much I loved the shape of Brady's chin. I know, it's probably the stupidest body part I could point out and admire. I just couldn't stop staring at that small crease that was indented into his skin. It gave him character. It made him look more mature. That chin made me feel glad to know that he was mine. Every single part of him was mine.

"I'm not mad," his jaw clenched, revealing that he wasn't telling me the truth.

"Liar," my voice was hoarse and my eyes were now closed to slits, just barely allowing me to see a small portion of him, "You're mad about w-what's happen-,"

Then I couldn't take the weight on any longer, and I let my view of him leave me completely.

"Melody," Brady shook me in his arms as his voice got farther and farther away, "Melody don't do this! We're so close just open your eyes!"

I wanted to listen to him, but my body told me differently. My body wanted some peace.

"Paul hurry up she's losing consciousness!"

"It's just up here calm down," his voice sounded slightly less irritated than it did before.

"Hear that? We're right here," the feeling of his breath prickled my skin, "Open your eyes Mel."

I did as I was told, trying my hardest to push the darkness away, "It…h-hurts," I was only able to see a bit of light above me. It was all I could manage to do at this point.

"I know," I felt his lips against my skin and it completely soothed every part of me. I kept my good hand on his chest, feeling the thudding of his heart against my palm, "Stop here!" he screamed.

I winced as the car came to a screeching halt. I had no time to calm myself down before I was being carried out of the car and into the hospital. The brightness of the whole place made my eyes close again and everything that happened next was one messed up blur.

I remember seeing nurses and a doctor standing over me. They said my name a few times, trying to get me to respond, but I didn't want to. I wanted to sleep. I needed to be left alone right now and no one would do that for me.

They poked my arm with something sharp and all I wanted to do was shout for them to leave me alone to rest. It didn't take long for more sharp pains to pinch my skin which ticked me off even more. It was cold and I prayed that I would feel Brady's warmth at some point, or maybe I would hear his voice. To my extreme disappointment it didn't happen.

I waited and waited to feel some part of him, but there was nothing, and it only made me feel hollow inside. It felt as if portions of me were missing all because he wasn't here.

Did he leave? Is he freaked out by me? Does he hate me?

I needed Brady. I needed to hear him again, to feel him again. I couldn't sit here blind and on the brink of passing out alone. I had to have him here…with…me. I…I…love…

The darkness finally grabbed a hold of me and pulled me down deeper into its bottomless pit. I felt every one of my thoughts leave me and all of the pain suddenly washed away, making me wonder why I couldn't just let this happen before when it felt so good and serene right now.

* * *

The first thing that I heard was the distinct beeping noise that made itself known every couple of seconds. It slightly sounded

muffled, like it was in a completely other room and was so loud that I could hear it all the way over here. I stayed focused on it though, breathing in and out to its steady rhythm and finding comfort in the fact that I wasn't dead, or so I hoped.

Shuffling to my right caught my attention and I tried my best to open my eyes to see him. It was a feeling inside of me, like a force tugging on me that gave me the strength to look. I tried not to think about how I could've possibly known it was Brady even though I didn't actually see him. It was just like I somehow _knew_ it would be him and not a doctor or a nurse.

Even though I could make out his tall frame and his eyes it was a little foggy. The noise from earlier was now loud and clear, and I looked up only to find the source. A green squiggly line moved up and down on the screen, recording each beat my heart would make.

My gaze travelled down to my arm which was now all stitched and bandaged up. An IV was sticking out of the top of my hand while my index finger was telling the heart rate monitor everything it needed to know.

"You freaked the hell out of me," I looked at him, leaning up against the wall right across from my bed, bags residing underneath his eyes.

"What time is it?" It must've been late since I was here in a hospital bed looking like I wasn't going to get out of here anytime soon. I assumed I would be staying overnight since I was hooked up to all this crap.

"Almost midnight," he barely smiled, "I forced them to let me stay past visiting hours. They were so scared and had no idea what to do so they just gave up eventually. I'm sure they were thinking I was psychotic from how angry I got. They even tried to call security to get me out."

I chuckled, feeling disappointed that I missed all of that. It didn't take long for me to realize that I still felt tired even though I was knocked out for a couple of hours, "Did they give me some pain meds?"

He nodded and walked over to the bed, grabbing my hand, "Yeah. You were out like a light as soon as they did."

"And why do I have an IV in me right now?"

His eyes suddenly got darker when I asked the question. It was like I was bringing up something he didn't want to talk about. I had a feeling I would feel the same way once I got the answer, "They said you were malnourished. They wanted to know what your diet was like."

Oh yeah, I definitely regret ever asking, "What did you," I gulped the saliva that was stuck in the back of my throat, ready to try to say that again, "what did you tell them?"

He shrugged, brushing away every piece of hair that was on my forehead, "I said I didn't know."

I nodded, breathing easy…for now…

"You don't eat much do you?"

This was definitely going to tear open a couple of holes. I knew that this would lead into some other subject. A subject I really do not want to get caught up in right now.

How could all of this have happened so fast? I had no idea that this night would be ending with me tiptoeing around talking about how I'm abused by my father.

Just hours ago I was having fun. I was finally having a normal moment, but as soon as I was given that moment it was ripped away from me. My dad snatched it right out of my hands and crushed it. And now I had to worry about having my fears come to surface.

"I eat what I can when I can," I made sure to keep my eyes off of him, "it's difficult when you're trying to avoid getting hurt-,"

"Was tonight one of the first full meals you've had in a while?"

I cringed, trying to ignore the fact that the tempo of the heart rate monitor sped up a bit, "Yeah," I whispered, hiding my face but keeping my hand tangled with his, "School is kind of up and down. I try my best though."

He nodded, clearly not happy with my answers. I found myself desperately wanting to go back to when we were in my room, kissing each other like there was no tomorrow. It was all so perfect. It was just me and him and we were completely content.

But now, you could practically cut the tension with a knife.

"I'm sorry any of this had to happen," I closed my eyes and listened, "If I would've gotten there sooner," he paused and I could feel the slight tremble of his hand as he got angrier, "Damn it! Why the hell am I so stupid?"

Suddenly, he shot up from beside me and started pacing back and forth to my right. I sighed and let a single tear travel its way down my cheek. It was starting. All of the hell I wanted to avoid was taking over.

"You didn't tell them what really happened did you?" I focused on the green line going up and down on the monitor, wanting to force my heart to slow down. Ripping the band aid off of this wound would make it all go by faster though. The sooner I got it out the sooner it would be over.

"No," he said sharply, "I didn't, but believe me it took everything in me to _not_ tell them the truth."

And as if I needed anything else to happen right now, a nurse came into the room. Her smile barely even managed to lighten up the tensed atmosphere I was suffocating in. From the times I've been in here before for other injuries I've never seen her. That was good for me since it would be easier to lie to someone who hasn't seen me before.

"It's glad to see you awake Melody," her dark brown hair stopped just at her shoulders and her hazel eyes were lit up with joy. I don't even know how she didn't notice Brady shaking over in the corner. When she came up to me she didn't even acknowledge him and I wondered how far he flew off the handle in order for her to act this way.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, adjusting the IV bag.

"I-I'm ok," I looked at Brady out of the corner of my eye, "No pain right now."

"That's good. The meds must still be in your system then," she kept recording stuff on her little clipboard, walking around me and taking a peak at my bandages, "heart rates a little high," yeah no kidding.

Once she was finished scribbling down her notes she sat on the bed next to me, her smile getting slightly wider, "You had a pretty big cut there. It took us fifteen stitches to fix it all up," ugh, it made me sick just thinking about it, "If you don't mind me asking you I would like to know what exactly happened."

And here we go. The lying was about to start. Every happy moment I had before was going to be washed away by my pathetic response, "Someone threw a glass through our garage window," I was amazed by how smoothly all of that was rolling off my tongue, "I went in to clean it up and tripped. I completely wiped out and ended up on the ground. The next thing I know blood is everywhere and I find this on my arm," I pointed to the cut, ignoring the snarl that I heard come out of Brady.

The nurse looked straight into my eyes, and I tried to make myself look as convincing as possible. She kept staring and staring, trying to get me to crack. I kept my face blank, waiting for it all to be over. It went on like this for a couple of minutes, and I thanked my heart for staying steady throughout the whole thing.

Finally, she nodded and patted my knee lightly, "Alright. Remember to be careful next time though ok?"

"Ok," I forced myself to look at him and saw what I fully expected to see. He was staring right back at me, looking completely disappointed. I tried to apologize to him with my eyes.

"I wanted to ask you about your diet too. When you came in we noticed you were severely malnourished. We wanted to keep you overnight on an IV to try and get you some more nutrients into your system," she looked right at me again with that same hard expression, "You can tell me anything," No I'm sure that's not true, "it'll all be between just you and me," for a second she looked back at Brady warily, "are you trying to lose weight?"

I wanted so badly to roll my eyes at her. I wanted to slap her and make her get the hell out of the room because of how dumb she was sounding. But she brought up the idea, so I just decided to roll with it, "Yeah, I kind of haven't eaten much lately."

She nodded, "Well in your file it says you're already seeing a therapist. Maybe you could bring it up with her sometime?" when I didn't respond she kept going on, "from now on you have to eat normally. Three meals a day with a snack or two in between," ok mom, "you're hurting yourself by not eating right."

"Yeah, I'll have to pay more attention to food I guess."

Again, the idiot smiled, believing my lies like a child believing in the Easter bunny, "I'll be back in a couple of hours to check up on you," her gaze went down to the folder in her hands as she stood up. When she didn't immediately walk out of the room I started to get ticked off, "Melody Owens?" No, it's Britney Spears….

These meds are messing up my head.

"You're Mary's daughter?" oh no. That's exactly what you shouldn't say. You should've walked out of the room right after you checked on me. Why did you have to point out that one dumb fact? Why did you just doom me forever?

"Yeah, I am," I said, noticing how Brady's head shot up when I spoke.

"I had no idea, stupid me," yeah stupid you, "I'll tell her you're here. She must be so worried about you," highly doubt it, "Sit tight I'll bring her right in to see you," does it look like I'm going anywhere?

Damn it I'm acting like such a jerk right now…

As soon as she left the room I was reminded of what was interrupted before when Brady started walking over to the bed, "Your mom works here?"

I sighed, looking down at the blanket I was covered with, "She's a nurse."

"Why didn't you tell me?" he sounded so hurt. Like I just punched him in the face, and it made me feel like the shittiest person in the world.

"I didn't think it mattered. She's not exactly a part of my life Brady," I winced at his expression, "This hospital is her life. Her patients are more of a family to her than I will ever be."

He shook his head, "Are you going to lie to her too?"

I'm so sorry. I know you'll never understand why I'm doing all of this. It's just something I have to do. It's the only way.

I wanted to say all of it to him, and I wanted to let him know that I felt just as bad as him about lying to everyone. But this was me keeping him in my life. This was me protecting everything we had as best as I could.

A knock on the door brought me out of my own thoughts. My mom stood in the doorway, her lips formed into a stern line. Her dark scrubs matched her dark and unloving personality. It suited her so well that I wanted to scowl at her.

I knew what was coming. Brady didn't. It was going to be the first time he experienced one of the lovely conversations of Melody and Mary Owens.

She didn't even attempt to move any closer to me. She just kept analyzing every single part of me, trying to understand what the hell was wrong with me. I wanted to tell her there was nothing wrong with _me_, there was something wrong with her dumb ass of a husband.

"You can't keep doing this Melody," she started, her tone harsh. I sat there silently, wishing it would go by fast, "All of these accidents are getting a bit ridiculous. The bills are piling up and I'm trying my best to pay for all of your mistakes," she hissed out the last word like it was poison and finally stepped into the room with her hands on her hips. I took note of the fact that she ignored Brady's presence just like the nurse did, "I can't keep giving away money left and right to pay for your clumsiness."

No mom, it was him. Dad did it to me. Yell at him not me.

"Mom, I'm sorry-,"

"Sorry just won't cut it this time Melody," her eyes narrowed at me and I shut my mouth, absorbing every word she spat at me, "I work so hard to provide for us," you work to keep a house you barely live in. You provide for a child you probably want to disown, "and you take complete advantage of that. Do you care at all about how much this is costing _me_?"

Do you ever stop and think that I'm in the hospital way too frequently? That these accidents happen way more than they should?

"I'll pay for all of it if you want."

Any other mother would've been crying. A mom who loved their child would have asked me if I was alright first. That wasn't my mom. My mom's job trumped me any day, "No, I'll do it," she sounded defeated, like she was already giving up on me, and I knew she was. She wasn't going to sit in here and talk to me while so many other people out there needed her more, "just don't let accidents like this happen again."

Accident? It wasn't an accident. He wanted to hurt me.

I noticed the look of disgust on her face when she finally saw Brady. There was nothing in her features that told me that she wanted me to introduce them. She didn't want anything to do with the boyfriend she knew nothing about. She couldn't face the fact that she knew as much about her daughter as she knew about this boy standing in front of her.

Without saying another word she walked right out of the room and continued on with what she did best, ignoring my existence.

"Cheerful isn't she?" I asked sarcastically, hoping Brady understood exactly how things were with my parents. I wanted him to understand why I don't want him to ever formally meet them.

He started shaking more after she was completely out of sight, "That's the way she acts towards you all the time?"

I grimaced, "That's probably the most I've ever really talked to her to be honest."

A growl came out of his mouth, "Why do you let it go on?"

I felt a chill run through my veins. Here we go. Here come the accusations. He's going to tell me everything I should've done and everything I didn't do. He's going to point out how wrong I was.

"Brady-,"

"You had so many opportunities to let the truth come out and you _lied_ straight to everyone's faces. This could've ended tonight. Tomorrow you could wake up knowing that you never have to be hurt again if you would just tell someone what really happened!" He shouted it all at me, letting his anger take over for him. I felt my eyes start to get damp as soon as I knew that every perfect moment we had together before was completely forgotten about at this very moment.

"I can't do that," I whispered.

"You can, but you won't!" I let a small sob come out of me, immediately covering it up with a cough when I noticed him freeze, "Melody," he took one deep breath before continuing, "You're suffering when you don't need to be. If you let this go on then he's going to," his eyelids closed, "he's going to end up killing you, and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I let that happen."

"I'm not going to do it," I grazed my finger lightly back and forth on my wrist, trying to keep myself composed, "You don't get it Brady."

"I don't?" his tone was fiercer now, "What's there not to get? He's deliberately hurting you. He's putting you into the hospital! What else is there to understand?"

"How about what will happen to me if I do tell someone," I shot back at him. He shut up immediately, looking completely confused. I was ready to clear it all up for him, "Let's say I tell the nurse what _really_ happened. Let's say the police get involved and put him in jail. They'll take me out of my home and then what? What will happen to me?"

His eyes were now focusing on the floor, avoiding any sort of eye contact with me.

"I'm not eighteen yet. I'm still a minor," fat tears started streaming down my face, "Child Protective services will get involved. How will I know where I end up then?" I regained my breath and tried to keep my composure as I went on, "They'll put me in a foster home or send me away to some other family member of mine that lives halfway across the country. They'll take me away from La Push," I used my finger to wipe away the tears, "away from you," I said softly.

He finally sat down in the chair that was right next to my bed, grabbing my hand in his again.

"My brother and I had a plan. We would wait until I was eighteen and escape. All I had to wait was a year and I could be free," I laid my cheek down onto my pillow and stared at his bloodshot eyes. I couldn't tell you I've ever seen Brady get emotional, but I guess I was actually getting to him, "Those plans changed when I met you. Suddenly I wasn't hanging on for my brother so we could stay together through all of this. I was hanging on to you, because you became the one person I could rely on. You became my personal savior, and I can't let _him_ be the reason why I have all of that taken away from me."

His eyebrows furrowed and he brought my hand up to his face, placing a light kiss on my skin before letting out something that sounded like a whimper, "If your safety means possibly being apart from each other, then I'm willing to take that risk."

I felt like he just stabbed me right in the heart. It hurt to hear all of that come out of his mouth. Maybe he really didn't feel as much for me as I did for him, "I'm not," I replied, clutching onto his hand like I would die if I didn't feel his touch.

"Melody," he whispered, "maybe that's what's supposed to happen. Maybe we need to be apart in order for you to completely heal."

"You're healing me," I shook my head, "I don't need anything but you."

"Tell the nurse the truth."

"No," it was like he didn't even hear everything I just confessed to him, "I'm not going to do it and you can't make me."

"You have to!" he shouted at me yet again.

And that was it for me. I was done trying to tell him how deeply I felt for him. None of it was getting through to him obviously. He didn't care that I chose him over everything else, "Get out," I took my fingers out of his, "just leave me alone."

"What?" he sounded more surprised than I thought he would.

Good. I wanted him to feel horrible right now. He wasn't going to try to look at things from my perspective so I'm going to kick him out, "I said get out and don't come back!" It was my turn to scream, "You won't even try to think about me. All you care about is how this affects you! You just want these problems off of your plate because it's too much for you to handle!"

"That's not true," he murmured.

"This is why I never should've told you about my dad, because you try to act like you get it but you never will. If you think this is some simple choice between right and wrong then you're delusional. This is so much more than that. This is me having to choose between never seeing you again or being with you and sticking it out until I can leave. I want to be in control of my own life. I'm not about to let everything go up in flames because of my parents."

Silence. It filled up the room like helium filling up a balloon. I wanted to keep it with me. I couldn't stand hearing him talk anymore.

"Leave," I demanded, trying to hold in the tears as best as I could while trying to sound like I was angry at the same time.

He shook his head at me with a solemn look on his face. A part of me wanted to kiss him and try to relive part of what happened earlier today, while every other part was telling me I needed to think things through on my own without him here. So I kept quiet and stared at the ceiling, listening to the beeping noise like it was a sweet song playing on in the background.

Nothing else was said when he stood up and finally listened to me. While he was walking out I kept my eyes on his back, wishing things were different. Why couldn't anything be easy? Why couldn't I just have him without these complications causing conflict? Why did I always ruin everything?

When he was finally gone I pulled the blanket over my head and cried to myself, letting out all of the pain that was building up inside of me. I curled myself up into a ball and wept while I waited for sleep to overcome me.

There was so much that I wished was different, me being the top thing on the list. I wished that I could go back to being the girl I was earlier. I wanted to be the girl that Brady enjoyed being around, because that girl felt more alive than she ever has before. She was fully content with where she was in her life.

I guess what happened was all just a reminder that I couldn't get too comfortable with everything being perfect. Something bad was going to happen sooner or later. I couldn't avoid the pain. I could run from it, but I couldn't hide. Even though that was all I really felt like doing at the moment.

* * *

I woke up the next morning to my arm throbbing in pain. It stung so bad that I had no choice but to call the annoying nurse back into my room to bring me some more pain meds, the kind that didn't make me drowsy of course, along with a full plate of breakfast that she insisted I eat. It was the most awkward experience in the world too. She stood right at the foot of my bed, watching me like a hawk stalking its prey. I ate the disgusting oatmeal and the sour orange just to please her, and when I finished she told me she would get the doctor to come in and make sure I could go home today, that cheesy smile plastered on her face the whole freaking time.

I guess you could say I was a mix of joy and fear when I heard her say that. It would be great to get out of here, and yet I didn't know if I wanted to even go home. It didn't really even feel like a home to me anyways. Plus, now that I was injured I had to stay home from school for a few days to heal. It would be terrible if I had to stay at that hell hole while I tried to recover.

I really had no choice when the doctor took the IV out of my arm in the late afternoon. Since my mom had yet another shift today –shocker- they told me I needed to call someone else to take me home. I didn't want to call Brady really. I didn't need to face him after everything that happened, but who else would I call? I didn't have anyone else. He was already involved in this whole mess, and I didn't want to worry Connor and get him caught up in it too, so I had to. Damn it, why couldn't I have been done with this paperwork earlier? Then he would still be in school. Now I really had no excuses.

When I finally did call him I kept the conversation as short as I could, only asking him if he could come and take me home and waiting to hear his reply. When he answered yes I hung up immediately just because I didn't want to get into a conversation about last night.

My mom and I met up again when she had to help me fill out the discharge paperwork. The air was quiet and stale, and I felt like if I ever did say anything then she would just get pissed off at me, so I let the silence stay the way it was.

She put on a happy façade when the doctor suddenly came into the room. I wanted to take the damn mask off of her face and reveal her for who she truly was, because all of that was a bunch of bullshit. It made me feel like she truly did hate me, and this was all just proof that she's led everyone in this hospital to think that she was the most loving mother in the world.

When the agonizing hour of paperwork was done, she didn't even have the decency to say goodbye to me. And do you think the doctor was in the room then? Hell no.

I stared down at the bandage that covered up the disgusting stitches that were protruding from my skin as I waited for Brady to get here. It felt like I had huge needles sticking out of me, minus the annoying pain, and I had my wonderful father to blame for all of this.

After a few minutes of me waiting, a jolt of…something made me sit up straight. Suddenly, I could _feel_ Brady in the hospital with me. Weird. Very weird.

When his figure appeared in the doorway I was glad to see Collin and Seth trailing along right behind him. It made me feel better to know that we weren't going to be alone.

"Hey guys," I grinned, standing up from the bed and trying really hard to not look at Brady.

"Look at her! She's tough as nails!" Seth came up to me and picked me up, hugging the air right out of my lungs.

My feet were now flailing in the air, and he didn't even leave me enough room to hug him back, but I did get a good feel for his six pack. Geez did all of them really have to have those?

I winced when my stitches started digging into his chest. The only one that seemed to hear my little cry of pain was Brady since he snarled at Seth who was still suffocating me, not on purpose of course.

"Let her go," he said, venom lining his words.

"Someone's uptight," Collin laughed, "You really need to calm down before you do something else you'll regret."

I wanted to ask him what he could possibly mean by that, but was rudely interrupted when Brady decided to speak up, "Can you guys please leave us alone? I need to talk to her."

"No, you don't have to go," I didn't want to talk to him. It would be better if I could just avoid another argument today. We could pick up where we left off _after_ my stitches are out.

"Yeah, we really can't go anywhere. Sam doesn't want you anywhere alone after that little stunt you pulled last night."

Stunt? What stunt did he pull? "What happened last night?"

All three of them got tense when I said it, "Seth I'm going to beat the shit out of you if you don't shut up!" Brady started shaking, just like last night. He sure does get angry a lot.

"Fine, we'll leave the room, but we're staying down the hall just in case you try to escape," Collin glared at Brady, staying cautious just in case he actually did try to beat one of them up, "Glad to see you doing ok Melody," he winked and smiled at me.

"Yeah, you're pretty tough if you ask me," Seth threw that out just as the two of them left the room. I couldn't keep the smile off of my face, even though they did leave us alone now.

I sighed and stared at the doorway, wanting to call them back in here immediately. I didn't want to go back to feeling miserable. It took me hours just to stop crying last night, and I had no intention of letting another tear come out of me. Getting into this again in less than twenty four hours was not good for my health.

Ha.

I make myself laugh sometimes. Really, when has _anything _in my life_ ever _been good for my health?

I guess that was the wrong way to put it.

"Melody," he sounded like he was in pain, like last night affected him exactly the way I intended it to, "I'm sorry for pushing you to do something you didn't want to do. You're right; I really don't understand what it's like to be in your shoes. And I'm sure if I was I wouldn't be able to handle it half as good as you do."

I kept a stern look on my face, letting him know that I still wasn't completely sold yet. He had to do better than that.

I crossed my arms over my chest, letting my gaze stay focused on his huge biceps even though it made me want to drool all over the floor. When he took a step towards me I stood steady, only noticing a huge vein making itself known when he closed his hands into fists.

"If I could take every beating for you then I would do it in a heartbeat," my eyes finally flickered up to his face, and I cursed myself for giving up on ignoring him so quickly. I figured I would just listen to him since he was starting to spark my interest, "and I promise that I will do everything I can to make sure you never have to feel pain again. I'm going to actually keep that promise too, since I've now broken the other one," he grimaced.

Another long stride forward and we were now only inches apart. I let my hands fall to my sides, realizing that I was completely intrigued by his every word. I was weak at the knees just because of the heat I felt coming off of him.

His eyes were burning through mine while his fingers looped around both of my wrists. I knew that I was a goner as soon as he did that because it was the gentlest touch I've ever felt in my life. It was like I was so fragile that if he squeezed me too hard I would completely shatter into a million tiny pieces. It made me feel like I meant everything to him.

"but if I break that promise too, which I'm really praying I won't, I want you to really think about letting the truth come out, because you need to be able to live the life you deserve," it seemed like his face got even closer to mine, "and don't doubt for a second that it's the right choice. Don't think about where you'll end up or if we'll be split up. If it comes to that, we'll deal with it. We will make it through every obstacle together," he exhaled the breath he had been holding in and I found myself enjoying the way his breath hit my face, "because love knows no boundaries. Love doesn't let an abusive father get in its way. Love kicks him in the ass and tells him that it's stronger than he will ever be."

Oh god. What did he just-

"What we have can't be broken by distance Mel," he grinned.

Wait. Hold on a second. He really said all of that? To me? To Melody Owens the basket case? I really just got the cheesiest explanation thrown at me? I really just loved every part of that cheesy explanation too? Am I turning into a puddle of goo yet?

"So I guess I'll just come right out and say it then," he kept that smile on his face when he brought our lips together for one short and sweet kiss. Our foreheads were glued together after our mouths parted. I found myself forgetting about why we were here when I looked at his face. I wrapped my arms around his waist, enjoying that every moment I lost yesterday was now being relived today.

Just so I could stay in this beautiful moment for as long as possible I closed my eyes, shivering every time his breath touched my cheeks.

"I love you Melody."

My heart stopped. I felt like at any given moment doctors would come into the room with a crash cart screaming code blue because I was no longer breathing.

So that's what he's been thinking about saying to me all night? He was planning on saying that one thing to me in hopes that this argument could magically blow over? Well, its magic was working pretty quickly…I actually did want to scream and jump up and down like an excited little school girl.

"Y-y-you," I felt my arms begin to shake, "what?"

He chuckled, "I said I love you," he whispered.

Please tell me I'm not dreaming. Someone pinch me to make sure I'm actually awake. Pour some water over my head, slap me in the face, anything. Just so that I know that this isn't some sort of figment of my imagination.

"You love me?"

"No, I actually said I hated you," he gave me a crazy look, "how could you make such a bad mistake? Hate doesn't sound anything like love. Geez getting a little ahead of yourself don't you think?"

I pulled my face back, my expression now one of pure shock and amusement, "I guess I am, because really why _would_ you love me? It's not like I'm anything special. What the hell was I thinking? Someone as hot as you would never love a waste of space like this."

"Alright, you caught me I actually did say I love you," he chuckled only slightly sounding like he wanted this joke to go on longer, "and you're not a waste of space. You're actually pretty worthy of all the space you take up. If I had to guess I'd say you're probably worthy of more than just that."

I rolled my eyes, "You're a dork."

"A dork that is admitting he loves you, and is losing all faith in the fact that he decided to say it to you now when it doesn't seem like you feel the same way."

I really took all of that in. Did I love him too?

I mean we haven't known each other for that long and yet I feel like I've known him my whole life. I feel like this is right where I'm supposed to be. Brady and I fit perfectly together even though we would seem like a couple that just wouldn't work out. Our relationship had a rocky start at the beginning, and slowly and steadily it began to bloom into something beautiful. It has become something that I used to feel like I could only dream about. It is exactly everything I never thought I would be able to have. I thought I would've died before I got the chance to actually love someone, and now that I do have all of that it's no longer a fantasy I made up in my head. It's reality. It's our reality. Our own personal love story.

"I love you too Brady," and I truly meant it. Every part of me felt satisfied with my response.

I was finally able to feel love and be loved in return.

**Wooooo for love! **

**I have to admit this chapter was just as long as my last. It is officially 9,037 words long (not including my obnoxious author's notes) that is a little over 17 pages of written text. Does it even seem that long to you? It doesn't ever feel like I write that much to me to be honest... you all said you liked the long chapters so I gave you another one ;)**

**So did anyone expect THAT to happen in this chapter? DID YOU? DID YOU?**

**I know her mom is a bitch...I want to slap her face...**

**And what DID Brady do last night? YOU WILL FIND OUT IN THE NEXT CHAPTER! That's right the next chapter will be in Brady's POV. You will see what he was thinking after he left the hospital and everything that happened after that. Can you take any guesses as to what he did? Write it in your review :)**

**So how was it? I know the end is all cheesy hehehehehe cheeese**

**Again, next chapter = Brady's POV. It won't be every single thing that happened here trust me. There is so much stuff I have in my head that I want to write out. I'm excited about it.**

**yes, the dramatic fighting has been in my head since the beginning. Not the annoying nurse though. She just popped in my head last night. What an idiot.**

**Until the next chapter I will have to say goodbye**


	26. 24 No Pun Intended

**Hello again everyone! :)**

**I know I have left you guys hanging for about 3 months now. I feel terrible about it, but I do have a reason. School just became too much and I had to focus on getting through the year in one piece. Now that it's summer and I'm all in one piece I can start up writing more often, and hopefully I WILL do that. :)**

**I'm sorry for leaving this story for so long, but believe me I've been thinking about it ALL THE TIME! And I highly enjoyed writing this chapter.**

**Hopefully you guys are still out there? And thank you to the people who replied to my Private Messages about the new update you guys are amazing! :D**

**And what happened to this site? It's all weird and the page is all small and in the center and my summary for the story keeps popping up at the top of the page...weird. I do like the nice new blue review button. It looks fun lol **

**Alright i'm finished except**

**WARNING! This chapter does include a lot of cursing in it so beware :)**

**Enjoy!**

Songs for this Chapter- Enemies by Shinedown (for the beginning), Be Still by The Fray (for the end)

* * *

**Recap:**

"Leave," I demanded, trying to hold in the tears as best as I could while trying to sound like I was angry at the same time.

He shook his head at me with a solemn look on his face. A part of me wanted to kiss him and try to relive part of what happened earlier today, while every other part was telling me I needed to think things through on my own without him here. So I kept quiet and stared at the ceiling, listening to the beeping noise like it was a sweet song playing on in the background.

Nothing else was said when he stood up and finally listened to me. While he was walking out I kept my eyes on his back, wishing things were different. Why couldn't anything be easy? Why couldn't I just have him without these complications causing conflict? Why did I always ruin everything?

When he was finally gone I pulled the blanket over my head and cried to myself, letting out all of the pain that was building up inside of me. I curled myself up into a ball and wept while I waited for sleep to overcome me.

* * *

Chapter 24

No Pun Intended

**Brady's POV**

I walked out of that room feeling a mix of a thousand and one emotions inside of me. I can honestly say I haven't felt this helpless in my entire life. I tried the best I could to make her see how much better her life could be if she would just tell everyone the truth. I wanted her to know that she didn't have to live in that house anymore, but she wouldn't have any of it. She had her beliefs about the outcome of letting the truth come out and I had my own, and she didn't even want to see things the way I saw it. Because the way I saw it was that she was holding onto the fact that in less than a year she could be free of this hell she's living in. She was clinging so desperately to that small etch of hope burning inside of her, and she didn't even see that things were getting worse. She didn't even notice that he was coming closer and closer to taking her life away. I knew that she didn't have that much longer before he actually did kill her.

I started shaking when my thoughts took a turn for the worst. As soon as I was out of that hospital I ran all the way to the edge of the forest, but I wouldn't let myself phase just yet. I let everything she said to me before I left beat me up on the inside before I even thought about doing that.

_"You won't even try to think about me. All you care about is how this affects you! You just want these problems off of your plate because it's too much for you to handle!"_

I couldn't believe that she actually thought I was being selfish about all of this. She actually believed that I wanted nothing to do with this horrible part of her life and I was only trying to help myself by trying to get her to tell the truth. How could she even consider that? Does she not know how many times I've wanted to take her place before? How much I wanted to step in that house and give that piece of shit the beating he deserved?

My shaking got even worse when I thought about that, because the fury I felt inside of me was becoming overwhelming. The hate I had for him overpowered everything else. All I allowed myself to think about anymore was how much I wanted to hurt him as I stared through the trees and into the pitch black forest.

He should be dead right now. It should be his ass that's in the hospital not hers. He doesn't even care about how much he's hurting her. That asshole doesn't give a shit about anything but himself and his alcohol. I swear to God I'm going to rip him apart.

And the more I thought about it the more determined I was to make that happen. The more my plan started to develop in my head, the more I hated his existence. The more I planned, the more I shook. I was practically a vibrating blur once I got into the mindset I needed to be in in order to pull the whole thing off.

I had to go about this carefully or else I would never be able to do it. I couldn't let anyone know where I was heading. Jake and Seth will be patrolling tonight, so all I have to do is think about something other than my plan. I had to make them believe that I was a completely innocent werewolf heading through the forest to go home and get some sleep.

As I slipped off my shorts and took off my shirt I practiced blocking out my thoughts and covering them up with other ones. If they found out what I was doing right away then there would be no chance of me even reaching the house. If everything went smoothly then I should be able to kick his sorry ass all the way to fucking China. I'll just have to deal with the consequences later on. I honestly don't even care about what Sam will think when he hears about it, and believe me he will hear about it. As soon as I do it my thoughts will be revealed and Jake and Seth will know, howling for Sam to come and stop me.

"Screw them," I clenched my teeth and tried to contain my anger for now, focusing my thoughts on Melody and how I felt when I saw her in the hospital. I let myself become consumed by images of her flashing in and out of my head and let the feeling of dread overcome me instead of the anger that was coursing through my veins.

Once I felt I was ready I shook until I finally burst into fur and was standing firmly on four paws. I immediately ran through the trees towards her house, making sure I didn't let anything about where I was going slip into my mind.

_How is she Brady? _Seth's thoughts caused me to play over everything that happened tonight in my head so he could see. I could tell both he and Jake were listening intently, so I kept everything as organized as possible. I managed to keep a fairly steady pace as I ran, trying to make them believe I wasn't about to do something completely stupid.

_I still don't understand why she would want to keep it a secret, _Jake pointed out.

I forced myself to think about the way she was looking at me when she told me to leave her alone. It hurt just to know that I made her upset because of how stupid I was, _I shouldn't have pushed her to say something._

I didn't say more as I got closer and closer to her house. I could smell the sickening alcoholic scent from all the way over here. Just as I was about to comment on the stench I realized that I still had Seth and Jake in my head. I couldn't let any of my thoughts slip up now.

_It's not like you have anything to worry about though. She's completely in love with you from what I saw today. I say she'll forgive you in less than a day._

I actually slowed down even more to stop and contemplate. Was she really in love with me? We've only been together for a little over a month now, but could she really love me? How could it be that obvious to Jake and completely a mystery to me?

_Because you're an idiot._

_Shut up Seth, _I shook the questions away immediately, taking a right turn when I could tell I was only a few blocks away from her house. I was so close to getting what I wanted.

_Where are you going Brady? _Jake just had to ask that. Of course he would.

I sped up and ignored his question. As I ran down the last couple of blocks I became completely consumed by Melody's scent and unfortunately, mixed in with it was _his_ disgusting odor.

I snarled as soon as I was in the woods behind her house. The anticipation was killing me, and all I wanted to do was tear him limb from limb. I wanted to see him dead on the ground. I wanted to make sure that he paid for what he's done to Melody.

_Calm down dude I was only kidding! _

At least Seth wasn't really catching on. I couldn't say the same for Jake. His thoughts were now disorderly and confused and I could tell that at any second he would know where I was.

I howled as loud as I could so he had to hear me, digging my claws into the mud and preparing to beat the shit out of the asshole that almost killed my soul mate. The pointless human being who has made her whole life a living hell.

_Brady what the hell are you doing? _Jake screamed at me. He still wasn't exactly sure what I was planning but I could tell he had an idea. They both now knew where I was, and I barely let them know what I was up to.

I could hear shuffling inside of the house, and it only took a minute before he appeared in the back doorway with a shotgun in his hand. I growled and snarled as loud as I could, letting him know I wasn't running away this time.

_Brady don't you dare! _

"Where the fuck are you?" He muttered to himself, looking right into the trees and scanning over me for just a second but not taking notice of me. He took a couple steps forward and I waited for the right moment to attack him. I took all of the anger and hatred I felt, pouring it all into this very moment where I would give him a taste of his own medicine, "Get your ass out here you dumb animal!"

Jake howled to let Sam know there was trouble and I took it as my cue to do it before my opportunity faded away.

When he was standing right in front of the tree line I growled harsher so he would know how close I was. I watched as he turned off the safety on the gun, waiting until he was directly in front of me.

_I'm right here asshole. Shoot me, I fucking dare you!_

And as soon as he pointed the gun at me and we made eye contact I lunged at his throat, knocking him onto the ground before he even had a chance to shoot a bullet at me. I pinned down both of his wrists into the ground, digging my claws into his skin, hoping that it was doing some damage.

_You dumb ass he's got a gun! _

_Back off Brady I already told Sam._

I shut out their thoughts and let myself enjoy the fact that I was overpowering _him_ and scaring the shit out of _him_ instead of it being the other way around. I was the one in charge, and I was going to savor this moment for as long as I could. As I became face to face with the monster that's hurt Melody so many times before I snarled right in his face, showing off my teeth so he could see how powerful I really was.

I could hear his heart beating faster and faster the more I growled, and I slightly let up on his wrists so I could do even more damage. The shouting in my head got louder, and I knew that I didn't have much time left before Sam stopped me. I raised my paw high above my head, feeling nothing for this sorry human being I was about to maul.

_You're never going to touch her again! _I slashed my claws right across his arm, _I swear to God I will_ killyou _if you ever try to hurt her you piece of shit! _I slashed him again on his other arm. He whaled out in pain, shaking more as the blood oozed out of his wounds, _Yeah it's not so fucking fun now is it?_

I slammed my paw down onto his hand just to make sure he couldn't try to touch her any time soon. While the bones cracked he screamed and just as I was about to go for the other hand I heard another howl, knowing it was over.

_I hope you rot in hell-_

_Stop! _ I was suddenly frozen in place by the alpha command, trying to resist it as best as I could, but eventually giving in to its powerful hold on me. I could already tell that I was going to be in deep trouble, and the fact that over half of my pack brothers were against me just added to it. I knew that they were disappointed in me from all of their thoughts, but I didn't even care.

_Get over here now! _I can say I haven't heard Sam sound that pissed off in a long time, and you could just feel how angry he was by how forcefully it felt like I was being tugged backwards toward him.

I took one more menacing look at Melody's father before I slowly inched my way back into the darkness and I was completely out of his sight. As I started heading back all I heard were a million different people shouting in my head. Some hating on me while others were just annoying.

_You're so dead!_

_He deserved it._

_How stupid could you be? _

_We're all screwed! Sam's never gonna let this one go._

_Brady I'm going to rip your fucking throat out!_

_He'll never be able to use that hand again._

_Saw that one coming._

_Did you see how scared he was? He shit his pants!_

_Serves him right._

_It's official. Brady's the biggest moron in the pack. _

I wish they would all just shut their damn mouths. I know for a fact that if any of their imprints were abused by someone they would do the exact same thing.

_He's gotta point there, _Seth added, slightly on my side but afraid to back me up because of what he feared Sam might do to him. Whatever I didn't need any of their support anyways.

Sam stayed quiet the whole time I headed towards his house. It made me feel just a bit irritated that he wouldn't even tell them to stop talking when it was giving me a splitting headache. I guess he just wanted to torture me some more since I could clearly tell he was ready to kill me right now. I wasn't rushing to get there either. I walked the whole way there not even caring that Paul was getting extremely pissed off because of how much time I was supposedly wasting. It's not like he was walking to his death right now. I'm pretty sure he was enjoying it along with the rest of the guys. The only ones who seemed to be on my side were Seth and Collin at this point. I guess it was better than nothing.

When I finally reached Sam he shot daggers at me, making sure I knew that he wasn't happy. Everyone else was standing around him, some in their wolf form and others just about to phase back.

_Phase and come inside so we can _talk_, _he spat out the word talk like it was burning his tongue.

I waited until everyone was inside to phase back into human form. I wish I could say that I regret hurting a human, but what I felt at this moment was the farthest thing from regret. I felt like I had accomplished something extremely great even if a lot of other people didn't really think so.

I picked up the pair of shorts Sam threw out the door to me and slowly went up the steps to his house, letting out a deep breath.

"Time to die," I muttered to myself before stepping inside of the house. As soon as I did I wanted to walk right back out. Everyone's eyes were now staring me down and I felt like they all expected me to say sorry or I didn't mean to do it at that point. I kept my mouth shut and didn't say a word.

"What the hell do you think you were doing out there?" Sam wasn't afraid to get right in my face and scream at me. He definitely wasn't going to hold back now, "Not only was that irresponsible, but it was completely unnecessary and put all of us in even more danger than we were before!"

"Unnecessary? Are you kidding me? Do you want to see what he did to her arm? I had half of her blood on my hands by the time we got to the hospital! She gets beaten by him every single day and you expect me to sit back and let it happen?" I wasn't going to hold back either.

"You didn't have to take it that far Brady," his tone was less intense now but still stern, "You just beat up a man who was pointing a gun at you! He could've killed you!"

"But he didn't."

"No, he didn't," he paused for a second, taking a much needed breath since his face was starting to look like a tomato, "but one wrong move and you would've had a bullet inside of you. Now he's going to hunt us all down even more because of you. Did you ever stop and think about what kind of danger this would put your pack in?"

"And have you ever thought about how much danger she's been in her whole life because of this asshole? Better yet, did you ever really care about helping her?"

"I still do care, but this is not the way to stop him. Hell, it'll only make him even angrier now! What if he tells the police a wolf attacked him? What are we supposed to do when it's not just one man hunting us down but several?"

"That won't happen," I stared at the floor, trying to keep myself calm so I wouldn't phase. It was like I was fighting a battle alone with only a few weapons on my side. It was like I was the enemy and they all wanted to take me down. Having everyone staring at me wasn't making things much better, "He was extremely drunk. I doubt he will barely even remember what happened to him tomorrow."

"You don't know that Brady! You have no idea what this man's capable of!"

"No, that's where you're wrong," I clenched my jaw, "I've _seen_ what this man's capable of. I've _heard _what this man's capable of. He can _kill_ her Sam. I'm not about to let him kill her!"

"Then tell the police! Get him arrested!"

"You think I haven't thought of that? She won't do it! Even after tonight she still refuses to tell anyone what's going on!"

That got him to shut up a bit. It seemed like he was actually a little shocked when he heard that.

"Believe me I want to put his ass in jail," I watched as Sam's expression softened up a little. I doubt that would last long, "I can't do it if she doesn't want to. She kicked me out because I tried to convince her to do it."

"That still doesn't make anything that you did tonight ok. I've taught you better Brady. You know this is wrong. Even if you can't see it now, you will eventually. You were selfish-,"

"I was protecting her! Tell me that you wouldn't do that for Emily if someone was beating her up every day," I turned my eyes onto the rest of the pack next, "and you guys tell me you wouldn't want to kill any guy who laid a hand on your imprints," all of their heads lowered while I spoke, "this guy is sucking the life out of my soul mate and you expect me to just sit down and not do anything about it? If the tables were turned I'm sure you would all do the same exact thing."

"Brady," Sam narrowed his eyes at me, crossing his arms over his chest, "None of that makes what you did tonight justifiable. You've lost my trust and I can't say you'll ever gain it back. From now on you're not going anywhere_ near_ that house unsupervised. When you're with Melody someone will be patrolling around the house to make sure you never do anything like this again. And I don't want you going anywhere without someone going with you."

Ugh, I knew this was coming. I can't say I didn't expect this because then I would be lying. All I can really do is agree to whatever he says and go on with my life with him practically hating me.

"Tomorrow you'll bring her to your house. I don't want her going anywhere near that house until we figure out what else we can do to help her. And that doesn't involve beating the crap out of her father."

I heard a couple guys chuckle behind him. He scanned each of their faces before letting his eyes land back onto me, "Brady, you're staying here tonight. I don't want you out of my sight for a second. I'll stay up all night watching you if I have to."

"Sucks to be you," Embry just had to comment from the sidelines and smirk like an ass. Typical.

"As for the rest of you, go home and get some sleep," Sam's orders were followed immediately, and everyone seemed to file out of the house as soon as possible. I couldn't blame them. I would want to avoid Sam's rage as much as possible if I was in their shoes.

"I'll be praying for you," Jared patted me on the shoulder as he left.

I somehow managed to laugh in spite of how horrible everything was.

"Have fun being under house arrest," Leah ruffled my hair and I growled at her.

Once everyone was gone I was left alone with one pissed off Sam and a less than happy looking Emily. Oh joy. This night was definitely going to be one for the books.

* * *

I stared at the empty desk where Melody should've been sitting. I wanted to stay home from school so I could go check up on her, but supposedly Sam thought that was a bad idea since I was "unstable" and she kicked me out of her hospital room last night. It pissed me off when he said I had to go to school today. I'm pretty sure I'm more unstable here knowing she wasn't sitting in that desk behind me than I was last night when I beat the crap out of her dad. I had broken four pencils so far and it was only the first class. It was tearing me apart knowing she was in the hospital and I was stuck here because Sam thought that tormenting me was great punishment. I can say right now it definitely is. Was this how Melody felt when I was gone for three days?

I wouldn't doubt it.

The whole day didn't get much better since I was constantly followed through the halls with Collin and Seth breathing down my neck. It seemed like they were enjoying it all too much. When lunch finally rolled along I couldn't stop thinking about what Jake said to me about how he could tell Melody was in love with me. I know, out of everything that happened yesterday_ that_ was the thing I was hung up on. Well, I definitely wasn't hung up on breaking her father's hand that's for sure.

I kept wondering what she would think of me if I told her I loved her. Was it too soon for her? Because I know it definitely wasn't for me. Ever since the first time I saw those beautiful green eyes I've been in love with her. Could I really say the same for her though? She wasn't like any other girl I've met before. I've never had a strong relationship with another girl this special to me. A relationship I had no intention of giving up on. I couldn't ruin everything by saying I love you too soon.

I felt Collin nudge my arm, "Dude what's up with you?"

"Isn't it obvious? He's thinking about _her_," Seth laughed, "The real question is what exactly is making him make that questioning face that almost looks like he's concentrating on taking a shit."

The two of them started laughing hysterically. All I did was glare at both of them. They would never know what this felt like. Not until they imprinted themselves.

"Don't worry, you'll look this confused too one day," I said seriously.

Their laughter died down after that, both of their expressions becoming more serious, "Alright what's wrong?"

Could I talk to them about it? Or would they just turn it all into one big joke like everything else?

Who else could I turn to though?

"I love her," I admitted, taking a bite of the sandwich that was sitting on my tray, "I just don't know if she feels the same way. And with what happened last night I might've just screwed it all up."

Collin rolled his eyes, "Seriously? You think she's going to let you go now? After all the progress you both have made with each other?"

I shrugged, "She's not like anyone else. It's different with her."

"Dude, are you blind? Did you not notice the way she was acting around you on the beach yesterday?"

I shook my head slowly, trying to think about the bonfire before everything turned bad.

"She's in love with you believe me," Seth added before he went back to pigging out.

"How do you know?" I asked, hoping they would just give me a straightforward answer.

"Think about it Brady. Despite everything she's been through she's opened up to _you. _Out of every guy in La Push she chose you. I saw the way Melody was watching you yesterday. All I gotta say is I've never seen her look at someone like that before. She's always been so shy and reserved at school. It was like she knew you were her soul mate."

I scoffed in denial but in reality I was hoping it was true. I honestly considered that idea in my head. I knew that she trusted me now and she was opening up to me more each day. You could tell she was happier by the way her eyes lit up every day and the way her smile appeared more often, but was that all just because of me? Did she really feel as much for me as I did for her?

I went through the rest of the day with those two questions making my head throb. I couldn't concentrate on learning at all, and by my last class all I did was stare at her empty desk, thinking about her smile and beautiful green eyes. The way her hair fell onto her shoulders. The way she smelled of vanilla and sometimes lavender. Oh yeah, going to school today was definitely a great form of punishment.

As soon as the bell rang I got out of that school faster than the speed of light. The door to my car almost flew off from how forcefully I opened it. As I sat in my car waiting for Seth and Collin to haul their asses out here I felt even more anxious. I tapped the steering wheel so fiercely that it seemed like I was starting to bruise my finger.

All of a sudden I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. My stomach leaped when I realized it could be her calling me. When I saw her name light up my screen I flipped the phone open as fast as possible, almost breaking it in two.

"Hello?" I said it a little more eagerly than I probably should have, but it was Melody and I felt like I haven't talked to her in months. Pathetic I know.

"Can you come pick me up and take me home?" her voice didn't sound happy at all. It sounded flat, like she would rather be doing anything else other than talking to me.

I sunk in my seat, wanting to stay on the phone with her forever and try to fix everything I messed up right here and now, "Yeah, of course I will. Melody I'm-," the line went dead, and I closed my eyes, knowing that meant she still hated me, "I'm sorry," I muttered into the phone.

Seth and Collin got into the car only a second after I hung up the phone, noticing the defeated look on my face when they sat down.

"What's wrong with you now?" Seth asked from the back seat, sounding slightly annoyed by the mood swings I seemed to be having today.

"Nothing," I mumbled, putting the car in reverse and starting to back out of the parking spot. I didn't care what it took. I was going to tell her how I really felt about her and make her forgive me for what I said last night. I couldn't lose her. Not after everything we've been through.

* * *

"Can't you guys just wait in the car?" I started to walk towards Melody's room after I told the nurse at the desk my name and the person I was visiting. She didn't seem to know who I was after my whole freak out at the hospital last night. Which was a good thing since I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to see Melody if it were anyone else.

"Sorry, Sam's orders," right, I almost forgot that I was currently in the dog house. No pun intended.

The imprint pull started tugging on me hard, begging me to get to her faster. And that's exactly what I did. I started speed walking until I found the number 215 on the wall next to her room. When I turned into the doorway I felt relief at the sight of her beautiful face. I noticed the way her lips formed into a small grin, but her eyes didn't meet mine. It was almost as if she was trying _not _to look at me.

"Hey guys," she stood up from the bed and I immediately wanted to hold her in my arms, ask her if she was ok, kiss her, anything. But then I was reminded that she was angry with me when she gave me the cold shoulder and only paid attention to Seth and Collin.

"Look at her! She's tough as nails!" Seth picked her up and twirled her around like a jerk, making me go crazy. I wanted to be the one who was holding her, not him.

As soon as she cringed after Seth hugged her a little bit too tightly I completely lost it, growling at Seth without thinking twice about it.

"Let her go," I let my frustration get the best of me at that point.

From behind me I could hear Collin laughing, "Someone's uptight. You really need to calm down before you do something else you'll regret."

That brought my thoughts back to the reason why the two of them were here with me in the first place. It definitely wasn't something I wanted her to find out about just yet. I just wanted them to both get the hell out of here now, before they did something stupid and made me attack them, "Can you guys please leave us alone? " I looked to them, "I need to talk to her."

"No, you don't have to go," I felt like I just got slapped in the face. She didn't want to be alone with me and it stung pretty badly.

"Yeah, we really can't go anywhere. Sam doesn't want you anywhere alone after that little stunt you pulled last night."

He slapped me on the back like he was doing me a favor, and all I wanted to do was pummel his ass.

"What happened last night?" I calmed down a bit when I heard her speak, but the tension didn't go away because she was now getting suspicious. I hated Seth for saying that.

"Seth I'm going to beat the shit out of you if you don't shut up!"

"Fine, we'll leave the room, but we're staying down the hall just in case you try to escape." Yeah right, like that was going to happen. I had no intention of leaving Melody alone, "Glad to see you doing ok Melody."

"Yeah, you're pretty tough if you ask me," I sighed at the fact that Seth had to point that out yet again.

Once they were gone I focused solely on her and the way she kept her eyes on everything but me. I wanted to earn her forgiveness as soon as possible. I needed to see those eyes looking at me again. I wanted to see her smile.

The only problem was, I didn't exactly know where to start. A million things were running through my mind and I could barely even find the right words to say to her. I was completely tongue tied.

I went through everything in my head, telling myself that I couldn't rehearse this. I had to just let it out. And that's how it started off, "Melody," her eyes flickered in my direction for the slightest second, "I'm sorry for pushing you to do something you didn't want to do," that's it just keep going on like that, "You're right; I really don't understand what it's like to be in your shoes. And I'm sure if I was I wouldn't be able to handle it half as good as you do."

Last night was definitely proof of that.

I could tell that I got her attention when I saw her cross her arms and look back in my direction. I was actually getting through to her. I took a step towards her when the pull was becoming too much.

"If I could take every beating for you then I would do it in a heartbeat," I felt a calmness wash over me when her eyes finally set on my face. Now we were making progress, "and I promise that I will do everything I can to make sure you never have to feel pain again. I'm going to actually keep that promise too, since I've now broken the other one," I took another step, watching as her hands fell to her sides.

When I was close enough, I immediately reached out and wrapped my hands around both of her wrists, holding her as gently as I could so I wouldn't hurt her. A spark ran through my fingers the longer they were touching her skin for.

I continued on after I knew that I was getting to her, "but if I break that promise too, which I'm really praying I won't, I want you to really think about letting the truth come out, because you need to be able to live the life you deserve," I wanted to kiss her so bad at that point. The look she was giving me was driving me crazy, "and don't doubt for a second that it's the right choice. Don't think about where you'll end up or if we'll be split up. If it comes to that, we'll deal with it. We will make it through every obstacle together."

This was it. This is where I admit my feelings for her and see what happens. This is where I either make a complete fool out of myself or finally get what I've wanted all along.

"Because love knows no boundaries. Love doesn't let an abusive father get in its way. Love kicks him in the ass and tell him that it's stronger than he will ever be," I tried to read her face to try to figure out what she was thinking, and all I got was a look of complete shock. I couldn't tell if it was the good kind of shock though, "What we have can't be broken by distance Mel."

I'm actually going to do this. I can't believe I'm going to wear my heart on my sleeve and leave things up in the air like this. I wish I could know how she felt before I did it, but it was too late to turn back now, "So I guess I'll just come right out and say it then," I smiled despite how nervous I felt. I pressed our lips together so I could feel the amazing sensation before I passed everything off into her hands.

I wrapped my arms around her and she did the same to me, both of our foreheads glued together. She closed her eyes with a smile on her face and that look was what made me say it out loud, "I love you Melody."

I did it. I actually said it. Out loud. To the most amazing girl. To the girl who could break me or make me the happiest guy alive.

"Y-y-you…what?"

Oh god she was shaking. Was that a bad sign?

"I said I love you," I chuckled for some odd reason. Maybe I was just trying to joke around with myself, because really why would she love me back? I'm just a screw up.

"You love me?"

Despite my doubts I tried to kid around with her, "No, I actually said I hated you. How could you make such a bad mistake? Hate doesn't sound anything like love. Geez getting a little ahead of yourself don't you think?"

What the hell did you just say? Why is she looking at you so confused? Oh right, because you just made yourself sound even dumber than you did five seconds ago.

"I guess I am, because really why would you love me? It's not like I'm anything special. What the hell was I thinking? Someone as hot as you would never love a waste of space like me."

Wait, did she just admit I was hot? As in good looking? Does that mean she loves me back?

Stop this damn joke and get serious, "Alright, you caught me I actually did say I love you," I chuckled nervously, "and you're not a waste of space. You're actually pretty worthy of all the space you take up. If I had to guess I'd say you're probably worthy of more than just that."

She smiled and rolled her eyes at me, "You're a dork."

Please just tell me how you feel. It's slowly killing me, "A dork that is admitting he loves you, and is losing all faith in the fact that he decided to say it to you now when it doesn't seem like you feel the same way."

She seemed to think hard about that, like it was really something difficult to decide on. That made me want to shit my pants. It was like she wasn't sure. I mean she can't just say no and walk away can she? She can't just want to be friends and crush every hope I had of having an amazing relationship with her could she? She had so much power in her hands and she didn't even realize it. She had the power to break me to pieces and it didn't even seem like it was really a concern to her.

Damn it I shouldn't have done it. It was stupid to say it now. Why couldn't I just wait? She's clearly unsure and now I'm going to get my-

"I love you too."

I stood completely frozen and felt my jaw drop to the floor. I thought maybe I was just making myself believe she said that, but then she looked at me in a way she never has before. She looked at me as if this was it for her, I was the one she wanted to give her heart to, and I can say I have no intention of ever breaking it. I wanted to give her the best life she could ask for. I wanted to be the man she woke up to every morning. I wanted to love her as much as I possibly could for the rest of our lives together.

We stayed in that room in each other's arms for almost a half an hour. It took a nurse passing by the room to make us stop. She almost had to pull us apart herself because we still were resisting her request to get the hell out before she called security. I assumed she actually knew who I was after that.

When we finally left the hospital Melody didn't question where we were going, and I wasn't even going to ask her if going to my house was alright. I knew that she had no desire to go back there, and I obviously wasn't going to be rooting for that idea either. Plus, Sam wanted me to take her to my house, one of the better rules I had to follow.

I watched her carefully the whole ride home, once and a while she would look back at me and smile, but other than that I knew her focus was mainly on her arm. She was thinking about everything that happened to her, absorbing the harsh reality of it all. She focused more on the trees we passed by then on who was sitting right next to her. I wish I could just make everything that was bothering her disappear. I wanted her dad to be gone forever. His ass belonged in jail.

I heard her wince beside me, and immediately my attention turned off of my thoughts and back onto her.

"We're almost there," I said, waiting until her eyes met mine to continue, "I'll get you some medicine for the pain and then we can do whatever you want."

She nodded, "I'm just," her lips pursed and I wanted to kiss them to try to make everything better, "tired of this," she pointed to her arm, "I wish I didn't have to avoid my house. I want to be able to come home and have my mom and dad be there to ask me how my day was or say they missed me or…something to show they cared," she turned towards me a little bit more, "you know?"

I reached over and grabbed her hand, "Yeah, I know," I kept my hand wrapped around hers the rest of the way to my house. I turned onto my street and turned into the driveway, making no attempt to go through the door. I wanted to talk to her first before I did that, "You don't need them Mel. You're so much better off without the crap they force you to go through."

She shrugged, "You're right, but-," she closed her mouth then, shaking her head and looking out through the windshield.

"But what?" I rubbed my thumb over her palm.

She grinned and chuckled, "it's really stupid and childish, but I just want them to," she hesitated and I could tell her eyes were starting to get glossy, "love me…like a parent should."

I let out a sigh, wishing I could say I understood but knowing that I really didn't understand. All I could do now was be there for her.

I let go of her hand and scooted closer to her, pulling her into my lap to try and comfort her as much as I could. She laid her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes.

"I could name a whole list of people who care about you."

She looked up at me through her eyelashes, "Yeah? Like who?"

"I know that the guys already consider you a sister to them," she seemed to smile at that, "Connor is your best friend so caring about you is kind of required," a small giggle made her eyes light up, "My parents can't stop talking about how great you are. It's like they like you more than they like me. Which is kind of sad, but kind of not at the same time. Plus, I love you, so it's obvious that I care about you."

She erupted into a fit of laughter, "Are you just saying all that to make me feel better?"

"Is it working?" I asked.

She raised her eyebrows and placed both of her hands on my cheeks and bringing our lips together. The kiss was short and sweet, only lasting for a few seconds and I felt like I was cheated out of an amazing make out session when she pulled away. I grunted at her, but she just shook her head at me, obviously not wanting to get into right now. That was fine as long as I could enjoy some of that later.

"Let's get inside," I suggested and she nodded in agreement almost immediately. When we stepped into the house my mom already had dinner waiting for the two of us. As she completely hugged the crap out of Melody, almost crushing her bad arm, I mouthed to her "see I told you" causing her to roll her eyes at me. I ate four helpings of the roast beef on the table, still feeling hungry after I ate it all if you can believe it. My mom knew that I ate more than the rest of them so she always made sure that there was enough for all of us. On the other hand, Melody didn't really seem like she knew what I was doing when I took that much food. I knew that I had to tell her my secret soon or else things would only get worse for the both of us. I was already starting to make myself sound like a pathological liar. I wasn't about to take that a step further.

Once we were finished helping clean up dinner, it was Melody's idea definitely _not_ mine, the two of us headed into my room since she seemed to be getting more and more tired by the second. I gave her an old t-shirt of mine and a pair of basketball shorts to wear, stepping out of the room to get her some meds for the pain in her arm while she changed. When I came back into the room I had to laugh from the sight of her. It looked more like she was wearing a dress and long pants. Not that I minded that she was wearing my clothes.

She fell back onto my bed, making her scent hit me in the face hard, practically intoxicating me from one whiff of it. I plopped down next to her and immediately pulled her in close to me. The imprint pull was settling now that we were near each other. She wrapped her arm around my torso and laid her head in the crook of my neck, sighing once she was finally settled.

We sat there in silence for a while, enjoying each other's company. I stroked her hair and stared at all of her perfection while she kept her eyes closed. I was convinced she fell asleep after a while, but she eventually opened her eyes and looked up at me.

"What were Collin and Seth talking about at the hospital?"

My hand stopped mid-stroke and I swear I was having a panic attack at the moment. Why did she feel the need to bring this up when we were perfectly fine without talking?

"What do you mean?" maybe she'll just let it go.

"I mean what did you do last night? They said Sam didn't want you going anywhere by yourself?"

Yeah right, she's definitely not going to back down on this one, "I kind of got really pissed off after what happened to you last night and did something…stupid I guess you could say."

Her eyes narrowed, "And by stupid you mean?"

I shook my head, "I just got into a fight with someone," you call that a fight? The guy didn't stand a chance.

"Did you hurt them?" she whispered. Her face looked confused, like she didn't want to believe me and yet she had no reason why she shouldn't. This was all the more reason why I had to tell her my secret soon.

"I guess you could say that," I just broke his hand and scratched both of his arms with my claws, no big deal.

"Oh," she didn't say anything else after that. I was grateful, but I felt like an asshole for being such a liar. She was my girlfriend for God's sakes. Why couldn't I just be honest with her already?

Oh yeah, because she would freak out.

"You're ok though?"

I laughed, "You're asking me if I'm ok? I should be asking you that," I looked down at her arm again. I kept thinking about who had done that to her and how I knew that he didn't care at all that he did it. Neither did her mom. Her mom acted like she scraped her knee on the sidewalk or something. It made me angry, but I didn't want to lose it again. Not here and definitely not now.

"I'm completely fine. I can barely notice it once I have some medicine in my system. Being here with you is helping too," she kissed me on the cheek.

I wanted to kiss her back, but I was being nagged by the thought of how cruel some people can be. How her parents could act as if she doesn't exist in their lives. She didn't deserve to be abandoned, and right now I felt extremely grateful to have met her, because if I didn't then she would still be alone. She was too great of a person to be left alone.

"Can I ask you something?" I watched as her head bobbed up and down. I let my curiosity take over hoped that asking this would make all of the messed up pieces fit together, "How did all of this start…with your parents? What made them start hurting you?"

I felt her tense up after I said it. I know I shouldn't ruin tonight by asking her to talk about them, because I knew that she was enjoying not having to worry about whether or not they would be hitting her or screaming in her face today. It felt like a mistake when she hesitated to answer me.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't-,"

"I know, but I want to," she inhaled and exhaled slowly, her face becoming blank, making it seem like she went to a completely different place, "I barely remember all of it. Most of it I heard from my brother," I nodded in understanding, "We used to live in California when I was a baby. I was five when everything started to go downhill, my brother was six. My mom had him when she was only eighteen and my dad was twenty one, neither of them was planning on having kids it kind of just happened. My mom wanted to become a nurse and my dad was studying to become a physical therapist, so we were a bump in the road," her face began to look solemn and it seemed like she was deep in thought, "After they had me they were pretty much forced into a marriage. They were happy for a while, my dad was able to become a physical therapist and my mom was busy taking care of us and finishing up her classes.

"It was one simple ankle sprain that ruined him," she laughed without any humor in her voice, "it ruined all of us. He became addicted to his prescription pain medication. It became so bad that he started stealing it from the clinic he worked at. He was eventually caught and they took his job away right on the spot. My mother made him go to rehab to get clean, and while he was doing that we started struggling more and more. My mom had to work two jobs to get us by.

"It took him about a year to get finished with rehab, and it didn't get any better for us after that. Everything progressively got worse. Bills were piling up and there was no way to pay for them. We eventually had to move to La Push because my parents couldn't afford to live in California anymore. We moved here when I was seven and Noah was eight. My mom had to pack up everything, leave school and try to find some other way to pursue her career all the way in a small Native American reservation."

She sighed then, obviously getting to a bad part of the story, "That's when he discovered alcohol. It was no longer an addiction to drugs; it became an addiction to alcohol. My dad was supposed to take care of us while my mom went to school in Seattle to finish up her last year of school. Except he didn't take care of us, he took care of his alcohol while Noah and I fended for ourselves. Noah would take care of me. That's how we became so close. We were in it together," her lips twitched up into a slight smile, "After all of the alcohol took over his life we no longer mattered to him. He got drunk and discovered how 'fulfilling' it felt to take out his anger on us. Mom wasn't there so might as well use your kids as a punching bag right? I mean I thought it would stop once she got her degree and everything, but it only seemed to get worse. She came back as a different person, more determined to make her career work out then to spend some time with her kids or at least show them she loved them a little bit. She got into fights with my dad all of the time because of his drinking problem and about not having a job. And the two of them eventually stopped caring about us altogether. It was me and my brother and that was it. As the years went on everything got worse, and that's basically how I got here today."

I couldn't believe that I just heard all of that. It made sense, but nowhere in that story did I see an excuse for him beating her senseless every day. It didn't make him any less of an asshole, "You're the strongest person I know. To have gone through all of that and still be standing is amazing," I kissed her hair, letting myself get lost in her sweet aroma.

"Yeah well you kind of helped me pick myself up and stay strong. Without you I would be dead remember?"

I flinched, "I try to forget about that."

She planted a kiss on my shoulder, "I don't, because it's the day that I met the guy that I'm currently head over heels in love with."

I held onto her tighter, feeling myself losing all control once she said that. I knew for sure that I would never give her up. She was mine and I would cherish her for as long as I live, "I love you Melody Owens."

And I would say those three words to her everyday to remind her of how much I cared about her, how much I would do absolutely anything for her. I would literally kill for her, and last night almost became proof of that.

**I hope you all liked another long chapter and I hope you liked hearing from Brady for this chapter.**

**So if you're still out there and you enjoyed it let me know in a review! Click that nice blue button down there and let me know what you thought! :)**

**Thanks for all of your support and feedback guys! I appreciate every single bit of it!**

**~KK**


	27. 25 No One But You

**Hello everyone...if you're still out there. I know, once again I've failed as an author. I have left you guys without updates for a horribly long amount of time and I have no excuses for not posting except that work and school consumed me. I am deeply sorry for leaving you guys wondering what was going to happen next, but I am going to try my best to get back into updating within a reasonable amount of time. I think I left this story where it was because I didn't know what to write for this chapter, but I had a lot of time to think about it and I hope you like the result.**

**I hope you guys are still out there and willing to read this. Don't give up on me! Although I wouldn't blame you if you have. **

**If you are reading this then enjoy the chapter. **

****Song for this chapter- I Won't Let Go by Rascal Flatts (beautiful song)

Chapter 25

No One But You

**Melody's POV**

We were in Brady's Chevelle on the way to Sam and Emily's house. Supposedly Brady wanted to discuss something about my living situation with Sam. I didn't understand why they had to do it exactly, because I'm pretty sure I can decide for myself where I want to live, but Brady somehow thought that we had to talk to other people about it. Meaning Sam, the big intimidating guy from the other day on the beach. It was like we needed Sam's approval before anything was set in stone; like Sam was the leader and we had to get his permission before we could follow through with anything. It was just one more thing to add to my list of weird.

Don't get me wrong though, I was ok with the whole idea of seeing Emily again, ecstatic even. She was one of the nicest, most hospitable people I have ever met. But when we got there I realized it wasn't just Sam and Emily that were there, it was every single person I met at the bonfire. All of the guys were crammed into the small living room of Sam and Emily's house while the girls were sitting on their laps. I suddenly felt overwhelmed by all of the people.

"You didn't say they would all be here," I whispered to Brady, my grip on his hand tightening.

He kissed my temple, "Its ok, we just need to figure out the best way to keep you safe."

I was confused to say the least, "Can't we just talk about this…alone?"

Before he could answer I was being scooped up into Embry's lung crushing arms, "She's alive! Thank God she's alive!"

Despite how much he was hurting my arm I giggled at his words.

I heard Brady growl fiercely from behind me, "Can you put her down?! You're hurting her!"

Embry set me back on my feet and rolled his eyes at Brady, "Calm down man geez," he laughed and then leaned down to my level, "we wouldn't want the hulk to get angry now would we?" he whispered in my ear.

And it seemed like Brady heard him anyways because the next thing I knew he was attacking Embry from behind and wrestling him down to the ground. I put my hand over my mouth and let out a small gasp from how aggressive they were being.

"Don't worry, they're just fooling around like always," Emily smiled at me with a plate full of freshly baked cookies in her hand, "it's great to see you again Melody," she gave me a one armed hug, "How are you feeling?" she was referring to my arm I assumed.

"I…I'm ok," I snuck a glance at Brady and Embry who were still wrestling in the middle of the room, only now they had most of the guys attention. I wondered how aggressive this sort of stuff usually got. I knew Brady could hold his own, but Embry was bigger than him, and I just couldn't stand it if he got hurt too.

"I've seen that look before," Sammy commented as she took a cookie from Emily. I noticed that all of the girls had headed over to the far side of the living room, where we knew it was a safe distance away from this wrestling match.

I tried to act as if I didn't know what she was talking about, "What look?"

She shook her head, "I used to feel the same way about it. It's a typical guy thing, they need to prove their manlihood by overpowering the other. They won't hurt each other believe me."

It was like she was reading my mind, "Is it that obvious?"

She shrugged, "You'll eventually get used to it."

"I swear to God if Embry breaks another one of my lamps I'm going to kill him," Emily looked as if she were ready to claw his eyes out.

All of us began to laugh then, and slowly but surely I felt like I was starting to become a part of the group. It was a feeling that I've never experienced before, being a part of something like this. I can say that it never would've happened if I didn't meet Brady.

Once Brady, Sam and apparently the rest of the guys went into the kitchen to discuss my 'situation' I stayed in the living room with the girls, eating cookies and talking to each of them like normal friends would do. No one really pressed me about my arm and I was thankful for it. I don't even know what they knew about what happened, but I wasn't about to ask them about it either. It was easier to leave that part of my life alone for now and focus on this part, the part where I was actually important to people.

It seemed like it took them hours upon hours to talk everything through, and I'm being extremely honest when I say that I have absolutely no idea what they were even saying even though they were just in the next room over. For some reason they were being very secretive about it, and I found it strange that this had something to do with me and no one would actually talk about it with me. Why did the other guys even care so much about it? It wasn't like it was a huge deal. Either I go back to being miserable or I don't, and I think my choice is going to be pretty obvious.

It was around five when they all came back into the living room. I was lying down on the sofa with my legs pulled in close to me while Kim was sitting on the other side of the couch. We had all resorted to watching Jeopardy on the television which was starting to get really boring. I was grateful for the fact that Brady came straight towards me when he entered the room. He didn't really know how much he was saving me.

He crouched down so we were eye level with each other. I rubbed the sleepiness away from my eyes and smiled at him, "So, what happened?"

He placed his hand on my cheek and rubbed his thumb back and forth on my skin. I could feel chills rippling through me when he did that.

"We can talk about it once we get out of here," he gently kissed me on the lips, "how's your arm feeling?"

I sat up and shrugged, "Not too bad, only a little bit of pain."

His eyebrows furrowed and he bit his lip for a moment before he opened his mouth to speak, "Do you want to go to the beach with me?"

My eyes widened a bit, remembering the amazing time we had collecting shells the last time we were there, "Of course I do," I replied simply.

He grabbed my hand and I laced my fingers through his, finding comfort in the physical contact that I had missed for most of the day.

Once we got into his car again, he drove in the direction of First Beach. I kept my mind clear as I sat in the passenger's seat, enjoying this time that I had to spend with him. I would have to treasure moments like these, because I knew they wouldn't last forever. At some point I was going to be sucked back into the reality of my life. I couldn't escape it even if I tried.

After Brady parked his car in the parking lot we took our shoes off and enjoyed the feeling of the sand between our toes as we walked down the beach together hand in hand. I stared out at the sun as it was in the process of setting and Brady kept his eyes on me.

I wanted so badly to walk on this beach forever with him, where we were completely alone. This is where I could be at peace, where there was no one to scream at me or hurt me. No one to remind me that not everything was perfect.

All of a sudden Brady stopped walking, and I stopped thinking about everything but him. It was only him that I wanted to associate my life with right now.

"What's wrong?" I asked after I saw the expression on his face.

He shook his head and smiled, "I just needed to take a minute and cherish you."

My eyebrows drew together in confusion, "Why? Is something going to happen?"

His smile slowly started to fade and as soon as it was gone I could see it. I could see the secret hiding behind his eyes. I wanted to break through that wall and just figure it out already, and I wanted him to tell me right here and now in this perfect moment. But I knew he wouldn't, because he was trying as hard as he could to keep it behind closed doors. He was holding back.

I wanted to get angry and I wanted to accuse him of not being honest with me, and then I realized I wasn't being fair. He would tell me when he felt the time was right. Eventually I would know and then I wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. Who knows maybe I won't like what it is, then I would probably be better off not knowing. I really couldn't get mad because I didn't want to risk losing him. I would rather die.

Any thoughts I had were soon washed away when he reeled me in towards him and kissed me square on the lips. Almost immediately, he deepened the kiss and I was allowed to taste his mouth, which surprisingly tasted like cookies. I weaved my hands through his hair and his hands began to make their way up my shirt, both of us focusing solely on each other and nothing else. Everything else could go to hell for the time being.

Once we decided to come up for air Brady started trailing kisses along my jaw and I moaned from the pleasure that was coursing through every part of me. He started to kiss my collarbone and I just about went insane. I began to put my own hands under his shirt, wanting to feel every inch of skin on him.

I heard him groan as he was kissing my neck, and he let out a low growl before bringing our lips back together. My whole body was now flush against his, both of us melding together perfectly. He grabbed my thighs and I moaned once more before he tensed up and suddenly let go of me. I felt empty and cold when he took a step back.

He was staring right at me and grumbling like he was angry, his hands formed into fists.

"Why did you do that?" I questioned.

He shook his head and slapped himself in the face, muttering something like 'get yourself together'. It took him a couple minutes before he decided to answer me, "I was getting out of control."

I couldn't help but laugh at him, placing my hand over my mouth to try to stifle it.

Suddenly, his tense muscles started to relax and he started grinning at me. Any traces of anger in him were gone now, "Are you laughing at me?"

I shook my head and bit my lip to try to stop the laughter. It didn't really seem to work, "No."

"I think you are," he started heading towards me again with a devilish look in his eyes.

"No, I'm not," I backed up when he got closer, "I'm really not I just-," I had to catch my breath from laughing so much.

"I'm trying to be serious over here and you're laughing?" He was almost caught up to me now, and I still couldn't stop myself.

"No," I started to turn around to run, "no don't!" I giggled as he finally picked me up in his arms and threw me over his shoulder. I started kicking and punching his back, "Brady!" I exclaimed.

He started laughing right along with me, "You're gonna have to pay for that."

I couldn't see much of anything from the position I was in, and before I could say anything else he began to spin me around. I screamed at the top of my lungs and closed my eyes to try to make myself less dizzy. I tried to punch his back again, but realized I was just punching air. I couldn't really focus on doing much of anything because he was spinning so fast. I tried to yell for him to stop and of course he didn't listen to me. And once he was finished with my 'punishment' he laid me down gently on the sand and I stared up at the darkening sky until the dizziness began to fade away.

He hovered above me for a moment with his hands and legs on either side of me. He placed a short kiss on my lips before he collapsed on the sand next to me.

I elbowed him in the side, "I feel like I'm going to puke."

He chuckled, "You shouldn't have laughed at me then."

Brady pulled me in towards him so my head was now resting on his chest. We laid there silently for a few minutes, listening to the sound of each other's breathing and the waves rolling in and out. I breathed in his scent that was now mixed in with the smell of salt water and became completely relaxed. I would give anything to never have to go back to reality. Then I wouldn't have to face my parents or everyone at school who hated me. In this place I could believe that my brother was watching out for me, protecting me from harm. It was hard to believe that nothing but good could exist here. It felt as if the whole world was against me everywhere else.

"So, we all came up with a plan," Brady broke the silence and pulled me out of my own head. I opened my eyes again and looked up at him, barely even remembering everything that happened earlier today.

"And?"

He sighed as he played with my hair, "You're definitely not staying in that house, but if your parents turn out to be a problem we can't keep you away all day and night."

I was afraid of this happening.

Brady continued on, "Believe me I hate this idea more than you," obviously he could sense my frustration, "Once and a while you have to go back, so they think you're home all night when you're really with me. All you have to do is walk through the door and straight up the stairs into your room."

I nodded, still not happy about this, "I'll be waiting in your room for you, and if I hear_ anything_ at all I'll be the first one down to beat the shit out of him before he even touches you."

I shook my head, "Can't I just stay with you all the time? I don't want to even see his face."

"I told Sam the same exact thing, but he thinks it'll be risky. Your mom or dad might get suspicious and something worse could result from that."

"Sam doesn't even know them like I do, they wouldn't give two shits if I was in my room or not."

"I tried to tell him that," I saw his jaw clench because he was angry. I could feel his skin vibrating through his shirt.

I began to feel like Sam had too much power, like he was forcing Brady and the rest of those guys to do things they didn't want to do. And the more I thought about it the more I hated Sam. The more I hated the fact that Brady allowed Sam to control him.

"Why are you even listening to him?" I was ready to start screaming at him, but I restrained myself since I didn't want to start arguing.

Brady paused for a moment, "I shouldn't."

"So, don't."

He let out a groan, "I'm already on his shit list though."

I shook my head in disbelief and sighed. I started to cuddle up even closer to him to try to keep myself calm and not get angry. I couldn't ruin this perfect moment.

I just didn't understand any of it. I didn't understand why we needed Sam to tell us what to do. It wasn't right for Sam to rule Brady's decisions like he had some sort of control over him. Brady had every right to refuse to do what Sam wanted, and yet he still chose to listen to him anyways. It was frustrating to know that there was nothing I could do about it either. It was nice enough that Brady was letting me stay in his house with him; I couldn't just make up my own rules and act like I deserved to stay there all the time.

"It'll be one or two nights a week and that's it," he kissed my forehead, "And I'll be there with you, to protect you."

I felt safer knowing that, and I trusted that he would protect me. If there was anyone I trusted most with my safety it was him.

"So, am I staying with you tonight?" I questioned, hopeful that he would say yes.

He nodded, "But we have to get your stuff first."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, listening to the ocean and his heart that was thudding against my ear again.

"Ok," I said simply, feeling uneasy about the fact that I would have to go back to that house full of hell.

"Don't worry," he whispered in my ear, "He won't even know we're there."

And I put all of my faith in his words; because there was nothing else I could do but trust him.

* * *

I stared up at the window that led to my room, feeling my heart begin to speed up from how afraid I was becoming. I was prepared for the worst and hoping for the best. There was no way of determining what would happen when we got in there. He could come barging right through my door and ruin everything. After the events that occurred the other night I had no idea how he would react if he saw me.

Brady faced me and cradled my face in his hands. He pressed our foreheads together and looked me straight in the eye, "You're going to be ok. I won't let anything happen to you."

I could feel my lips begin to tremble in fear, "I know you won't."

He kissed me lightly on the lips before he told me the plan one more time, "Once we get up there I don't want you to leave that room for anything. I'll get your toothbrush and stuff out of the bathroom for you and you pack clothes for yourself, ok?"

"Ok," I agreed.

He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me up against his chest. I squeezed him tight and buried my face in his shirt, taking in his scent.

"Let's get this over with," I mumbled.

He held on to me for a few more seconds before pulling away. I turned towards the tree that led up to my window and grabbed onto the bark, letting out a breath before I started to climb. I grabbed onto the nearest branch and pulled myself up, doing the same thing over and over until I was right across from the window. Brady was soon crouched down on the thick branch next to me. He grabbed the trunk of the tree for support as he kicked the window in, breaking the lock and surprisingly nothing else. I was highly grateful for that.

I jumped through the window and into my room first. Immediately, I went to the closet where I kept my duffel bag I always used when I went to Seattle with Noah. I threw the bag onto my bed and began to stuff clothes into it. Brady went through my drawers and started throwing stuff in from there. I could barely hear the sound of the TV coming from downstairs, hoping that he would stay put.

My heart was racing as I threw more and more of my stuff into the bag. I grabbed the picture of me and Noah from my dresser and threw that in there too, just because I felt like I needed to keep some part of him with me through all of this. As soon as I felt satisfied with what I had in the bag, I turned around and saw Brady with his ear up against the door.

He started muttering to himself before he came back towards me and took both of my hands in his, "I'm going to get your stuff from the bathroom. Don't even_ think_ about going out in that hallway."

I nodded, "Be careful," I whispered.

He looked straight into my eyes and smiled, "I'll be fine."

I knew he was saying that just to reassure me and I can say that it barely even made me feel better about him leaving this room. He let go of my hands and I suddenly felt empty. Even though I knew he would be back in no time I still felt like I lost something.

Brady opened the door and quietly made his way across the hall. I could feel my hands trembling at my sides as I moved to the door and closed it so there was only a crack left open that I could see him through. I tried as best as I could to track him with my eyes, but the small opening only left me with so much to see.

The minutes that I waited for him to finish were the worst minutes of my life. It seemed to be taking him hours to get back here and I felt as if hands were tightly gripping my neck and I was slowly being suffocated the longer I had to wait. I couldn't keep my eyes off of that hallway though. I just kept staring and waiting until I could see him again.

And then, all at once I heard footsteps coming up the stairs slowly. I felt my heart crash into my ribcage and I was ready to scream. But I still couldn't pry my eyes away from the only view I had of the hallway. I counted each step that he took until there was nothing but silence.

He was at the top of the stairs.

I saw his shadow reflecting off of the wooden floor, and I watched as it got closer and closer to the room I was in. I slid all the way down to the floor and stared through that crack until I saw his figure right in front of the door, with his back turned towards me. For some reason he kept quiet and just stood there as if he knew something was off.

That's when I noticed his arms. I could see bandages wrapped around both of them. His right hand also had a cast on it. The thing that got to me the most was the blood seeping through the gauze, showing the slight shape of claw marks.

I turned away as soon as I saw it, scared out of my mind and ready to get out of this damn house.

It took him about five minutes before he moved away from my room and closer to where Brady was. I prayed to God that he didn't get caught, but that was about the best I could do. I was too much of a coward to try and distract him so Brady could get out of that room, too afraid that he would discover me. All I did was keep my face buried in my hands and let the tears roll down my cheeks until I could hear footsteps coming towards the room again. This time they didn't stop, this time they kept coming until they were finally through the door.

I stepped back and kept my arms wrapped around my torso, trying to shield myself from the monster that was coming to get me. But when the figure finally stepped into the room and I saw Brady's brown eyes I automatically relaxed.

I let out one low sob before I ran to him and practically jumped into his warm arms. He cooed in my ear and rocked me from side to side, comforting me until I calmed myself down.

"H-He was so c-close," I stuttered.

"I know," he sounded like he was as terrified as I was, "Thank God you're ok."

He held me for only a couple more seconds before we finished packing the things he got from the bathroom and got the hell out of there. And as we made our way out of the backyard and farther away from that house all that kept running through my head were images of what could've happened if he came into that room. He wouldn't have held back the rage he was feeling towards me this time, I knew it. He would've put all of his effort into hurting me this time. But it didn't happen, and I could rest easy knowing that I wasn't going to have to spend the night sleeping with one eye open.

I clutched onto Brady's hand desperately the whole way back to his house, repeating to myself that I was safe over and over again.

It wasn't until we were finally parked in his driveway that I was able to breathe normally. I closed my eyes and laid my head back against the seat, still holding onto Brady.

He turned off the ignition and stayed quiet for a moment. I felt his gaze on me the longer I sat there with my eyes closed for. Before I could even begin to say anything he pulled me into in his lap and I instantly rested my head against his shoulder.

"I was so afraid," I confessed as I became consumed in the warmth of his skin.

"I know you were," he whispered, "I'm sorry."

I looked up at him and placed a kiss on his chin, "No, I'm sorry," I paused, "for not being the girlfriend you deserve, and for putting you through so many horrible things."

He rested his head on top of mine and sighed, "I don't want anyone else, only you. I want you and everything that comes along with you," his hands that were around my waist tightened their grip, as if he thought I was going to float away, "And I will do anything to keep it that way. I would die a thousand times before I let you go."

I grinned and closed my eyes again, feeling as if I could sit in this car forever and he would be sitting here right along with me the whole time.

"I love you Brady."

He kissed my cheek, "I love you too. More than I could ever love anyone else."

It took us a long time to leave his car. I think we only sat there for so long because both of us were pretty shaken up by everything that had happened tonight. We both needed a moment to tune out from the rest of the world and enjoy the fact that we had each other. We didn't have to deal with bruises and scars for the night, we could focus on the good instead of the bad.

After we made our way into his house, Brady's mom already had dinner waiting for us on the table. I felt content knowing that they actually liked me and welcomed me into their home. It was a totally different atmosphere in here. I felt like I wasn't constantly walking on eggshells, and that I could say anything to them without getting screamed at for saying the wrong thing.

For the rest of the night I kept thinking about how different my life would be now if I didn't grow up the way I did. I wondered if I would be the same person I am today or some other girl that could only possibly exist in my dreams. I thought about how much opportunity a picture perfect life held and how much I would've killed to have a happy childhood.

Then I thought about Noah.

If our parents loved us…he would still be alive.

Brady interrupted my thoughts when he came back from the bathroom. I was sitting up in his bed, with my hair in a ponytail and my pajamas on. He stood in the doorway with only a pair of sweatpants on, revealing all of his perfect muscles.

I felt my cheeks begin to burn from the inappropriate things that popped into my head.

He laid down beside me and pulled me in towards him. I kept my head on the pillow and connected my eyes with his. He wiped away the one tear that was escaping from my eye. I hadn't even noticed that I was on the brink of crying. When I could feel more tears starting to burn my eyes I forced myself to keep them hidden. I didn't want to cry.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

I shook my head and leaned my forehead against his, "I was just thinking about Noah."

His jaw clenched and he began to graze his thumb over my cheek lightly, "Does it have to do with what happened tonight?"

"No, not really," I closed my eyes and found comfort whenever I felt his breath on my face, "I just wish that he was still here, and I know that I can't get him back but," I bit my lip, "if things were different then…he wouldn't have killed himself. He would be here."

Brady's arms tightened around my waist and I immediately felt like he understood me, like he knew that that was the truth and there was nothing he could do to change it.

"He is here, though," I added, "I can feel him around me. I can never talk to him or see him again though."

"I wish I knew what to say to help you," he mumbled.

I opened my eyes again and smiled, "You don't have to say anything, all you have to do is listen."

"And I always will, so don't ever feel like you can't tell me something."

I rested my head on his chest and felt his fingers begin to play around with small strands of my hair, "I promise you're going to be the first to hear about all of my problems."

Even though I knew that he was hiding something I acted oblivious to it. I wish that I had the courage to bring up the fact that he's been so secretive lately, but I knew that ruining this moment would mess up every good thing I had going for me. I knew that once the time was right I would be able to confront him about it without any hesitation, because a relationship couldn't be built on secrets.

All of a sudden, there was a knock on the door and Brady's mom was now standing in the doorway, smiling at the two of us.

We both pulled away from each other in less than a second.

"I hate to break this up, but Brady you're going to have to sleep in the living room for the night. I don't want you to take advantage of that poor girl-,"

"Ok mom we get it," his eyes widened and I began to laugh.

"I'm just looking out for you Brady. You wouldn't want to become a father at the age-,"

"Mom!" he groaned and threw his pillow over his head.

I blushed in embarrassment and watched Mrs. Greene leave with a satisfied smile on her face, as if she enjoyed doing this to her son.

"She's just being cautious," I giggled.

"No, what she's doing is completely humiliating me in front of my girlfriend," he came back out of hiding and for the first time ever I saw that his cheeks were flushed.

"She cares about you, that's all," I pecked his red cheek, "Now go before she comes back here."

He shook his head in denial, "I don't want to leave you."

"I'm right here. And I will be all night. Just enjoy the fact that I'm not staying at my house tonight."

His smile turned serious and his eyes travelled down to my lips as he moved in closer and kissed me. I grabbed each side of his face and intensified the kiss for only a minute before I pulled away from him.

"I'm definitely not staying in the living room. As soon as they're asleep I'm coming back in here."

I chuckled, "I'll be waiting."

And with that he stood up from the bed and left the room, causing me to start to feel hollow without his heat keeping me warm. The blanket wasn't nearly as good as Brady's skin, but it would have to do. And to make matters worse, it felt like a part of me had been ripped away when he left the room, like every bone in my body wanted to get up and go to him. I had to wrap myself tighter in the blanket so that they didn't have a chance to move. I was being pathetic and I knew it, but I guess that's what happens when you're completely in love with someone.

**Hope you guys liked it. Again I'm sorry for my absence. I know it was really long, but I hope this long chapter made up for it.**

**There is one more chapter before the secret is revealed. I just feel like there needs to be one more thing added before she finds out. **

**Please leave a review and let me know how this chapter was for all of you!**

**Thank you!**

**~KK**


	28. 26 One More Good Night

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed/favorited/followed this story after reading the last chapter! I'm glad I'm not just writing this for myself after my long absence. **

**This chapter turned out completely different from the way I first intended to write it. It kind of just happened that way while I was typing it up.**

**Hope you all enjoy it! I made it extra long to tie you over until the next update!**

**WARNING: There is a lot of foul language in this chapter. If you don't like it then don't read it. **

Song for this Chapter- Something for the Rest of Us by the Goo Goo Dolls

Chapter 26

One More Good Night

It's been two weeks since my 'accident'. Two weeks since I started staying at Brady's house. I had become so used to the idea of staying away from that house that whenever I did have to go back I would feel as scared as I did when I lived there every single day. Even though Brady stayed with me every time I did go back I never felt safe. Being there only brought back the bad and got rid of all the good. I would have nightmares of my brother being killed by our father while I was there, and when I was at Brady's house I only dreamed of good things.

He could sense the change in me when we went back, but he didn't say much about it. He tried to keep me positive, telling me that I just had to get through this one night and then we could go back to being completely content and we didn't even have to think about that piece of shit home. But what he didn't know was that one night was enough to remind me of all the imperfections that were poisoning my life. One night in that house and I was ruined.

Every time I was with Brady in his home I felt alive. Like I could conquer the world or climb the highest mountain. When it came time to visit my dear old dad I felt as if I was being sucked back into all of the hatred and depression that had always consumed me. I was forced to think about Noah and how that one place had cut his life short just like it had almost done to me. And I was being forced into becoming the old Melody again. I thought that she was a distant stranger now, but once and a while I would realize that she was still inside of me. Whenever we went back to that place she would make her appearance.

The only light I could see in the darkness of that abyss was the fact that Brady was with me all the time, through every step of the way. And I was never touched by that monster. The wolves in the woods would constantly howl whenever my father started screaming at me or coming after me. I had asked Brady what he thought about it one time. He would shrug it off and say they were probably pissed off at my dad's yelling and the stench of alcohol the house was reeking with. I couldn't really disagree with that.

I heard the bell start to ring above me, signaling the end of class. I blinked a few times to try and jump back into reality. Once I realized I was the last person left in the room I gathered up my books and quickly got out of there before people started coming in for the next class. As always, Brady was waiting outside the room to take me to lunch. I took his hands in mine immediately and planted a kiss on his lips.

He smiled against my mouth and kept our foreheads together as he pulled away, "Hey beautiful."

That one greeting never seized to make chills reverberate throughout my whole body.

"Hey," I squeezed his hands and ignored the few scoffs coming from all around us. I had learned to ignore what everyone else thought about me and Brady being together. The rumors going around school that the pathetic suicidal girl was paying the ripped, god-like guy to go out with her, have sex with her, give her drugs, I don't even know anymore. The list of rumors was growing by the day and I didn't care one bit. I was in love and I didn't have to prove anything to anyone.

We began walking through the hallway towards the cafeteria hand in hand. I kept my eyes on him and he did the same with me, both of us staying in our own world.

"How was your class?" he asked me.

I shrugged and was suddenly reminded of everything I was thinking about in Spanish, "I couldn't really focus."

I knew that he would be able to catch on when I said that. He always knew when something was wrong, "You have to stop this Melody."

I pursed my lips and felt my smile grow smaller by the second, "I can't help it. If I didn't have to go back there tonight then I would be perfectly fine."

As we walked through the doors to the cafeteria Brady took his eyes off of me for a second and scanned the whole room. A low growl escaped his mouth when he realized everyone was still staring at us. I just sighed and wondered if they had anything better to do with their lives than focus on the two of us.

He muttered something to himself before turning back to me, "You can't let this ruin your whole day though. Dwelling on it isn't going to help anything. You just have to keep thinking that you'll get through-,"

"I'm sick of doing that!" I shouted a little louder than I intended to and suddenly everyone was silent, listening in on our conversation.

I grunted and snatched my hand away from him as I headed for the lunch line. Brady followed close behind me as I glanced over each and every food item on display. I rejected everything, which I could tell was pissing Brady off. He hated it when I didn't eat, so he started to force me to fill up my whole tray with shitty food until it was overflowing after that nurse told me I was malnourished.

"I'm not going to let anything happen to you," he reassured me.

I picked up a small bowl of grapes, "I know that. I just feel like a different person every time I'm there. I feel damaged and scared, and when I'm with you at your house I'm the total opposite of that."

He sighed, "You have to eat more than that."

I groaned before I paid for my food and headed off towards our usual table. Brady knew better than to push me past my limit, especially on these days when I knew I was going to have to go back to my house. I didn't mean to take my anger out on him all the time I just didn't understand why it suddenly seemed like I was the one becoming more opposed to going home than he was.

When I was only a few feet away from the table I wasn't paying attention and accidentally ran right into someone, causing their lunch to topple over onto the floor.

I looked up to see Derrick Murphy, one of the guys on our lame ass football team. Perfect.

"What the hell is your problem?!" He wasn't afraid to get right into my face.

"I'm sorry, I-I wasn't even paying attention," I scrambled down to the floor to try to clean up the mess while he just stared me down, "I-I'll give you money to buy something else-,"

He started laughing, "Money? You think I want your money?" now all eyes were definitely on me, "Why the fuck would I take money from a whore like you?"

I stopped what I was doing as soon as I heard the whole cafeteria begin to erupt into a sea of laughter. I kept my face blank as I stood up and just as I was about to turn around and leave, Brady stepped in front of me.

I could see that he was already shaking and out of the corner of my eye I noticed Collin and Seth getting up from their chairs to stop him from doing something stupid.

And in the blink of an eye, Brady's fist connected with Derrick's nose. He was on the floor in seconds, with blood dripping down his face. Brady grabbed him by the collar and picked him up so his feet were no longer touching the ground.

"You want to repeat what you just fucking said to her?" when he didn't answer Brady got even more furious, "Do you?!"

"Stop it!" I screamed as I touched his shoulder. He shook my hand off viciously and ignored my presence, "Just let go of him!" I spit it out as a desperate attempt to get his attention. No such luck.

Derrick was breathing heavily and started to smile at the fact that he was getting right under Brady's skin, "She's a desperate whor-,"

Another punch right in his eye and I forced myself to look at the ground. All around me I heard people cheering and some even laughed at what was happening. There was some lunch lady screaming to someone else to get the principal while all I did was stand there.

Seth and Collin stepped in just as Brady pulled his fist back to hit him one more time. They forced him to loosen his grip on Derrick's shirt, causing Derrick to fall to the floor like a ragdoll. They both grabbed each of Brady's arms and began struggling against him as Brady tried to lunge at Derrick. As soon as he looked at me he finally calmed down enough so that the two of them could drag him off towards the exit.

"Brady," I looked in the direction that he was taken to, with my lips trembling and my hands down at my sides. The whole room was finally silent, and I felt like each new pair of eyes that landed on me was like another set of teeth that started ripping at my flesh and opening me up for the world to see. Everyone was now witness to Brady's short temper, and they probably all thought I was a whore just like Derrick said. As if Brady beating him up proved that I was paying him for sex, because they just couldn't handle someone like me actually going out with someone like him.

I turned around and saw the principal heading this way and I immediately bolted to the exit that Seth, Collin and Brady had gone through. When I was out of the school I saw the three of them right by the tree line across from the small football field that was behind the school. I ran towards them without hesitation, feeling a jumble of emotions begin to boil underneath my skin.

When they saw I was coming Seth and Collin blocked Brady from my view, creating a wall between the two of us. I pushed against them to try and get through but they wouldn't budge.

"What are you doing?" my eyebrows furrowed.

"It's not safe to be around him," Seth's voice held no sentiment whatsoever.

I narrowed my eyes, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just let me talk to her damn it!" I cringed at the sound of his harsh tone. His voice was laced in venom and it sounded as if he was ready to rip someone's head off. I knew he was prone to flying off the handle, but it's never been this bad before.

"Melody you should just go," both of them looked right at me, and I could tell that this was all part of something I didn't know about. It was a part of his secret. The secret they were all keeping from me. And I wished for just a minute that I could be rid of all of this confusion, that he wouldn't be such a coward and he would just tell me already.

"Can you at least tell me what the hell is wrong with him?!"

Before they could even say anything I heard the exit door open and close again. I looked behind me and saw the principal and vice principal coming towards us. As soon as I turned around again I saw that Brady was gone and it was only Seth and Collin that remained. Their faces were as still as stone as the principal approached us, and they completely ignored my question.

"What are you hiding?! What the fuck is so important that you all have to keep it a God damn secret?!" I felt any patience I had leave me at that moment. It was pissing me off that they wouldn't explain any of this to me. It was like a stab to the chest, like they didn't trust me to know. And I no longer cared about letting Brady tell me his secret when he was ready, I wanted to know _now_.

"Where did he go?" Principal Shaw was right behind me, but I didn't want to turn around and acknowledge him. I just kept shooting daggers right at Seth and Collin the whole time.

"He went to cool off," Collin kept his head down, "He'll be back."

"You better hope he gets back here, or else he's going to be expelled from this school."

I shuddered at the word expelled, "He's going to come back," I reassured him.

"Until then I want to see _all_ of you in my office," his eyes landed on each of us for a moment, "_right now_."

This was just perfect. I was clearly not in the right state of mind and he expected me to go to his office and talk about what just happened like a normal human being. He expected me to know why Brady freaked out as badly as he did, why he always seemed to go overboard, and I wouldn't have an answer for him. I wasn't in on the secret so how the hell should I know. I doubt Collin and Seth would say anything useful either since they're so good at lying to people.

When we walked back into the school everyone was cleared out of the cafeteria and one of the janitors was cleaning up the food that was on the ground. I focused on the wall in front of me the whole way to the office, trying not to pay attention to the two people who were walking on either side of me. Once we reached the office, Principal Shaw took Seth inside first while I had to sit outside with Collin right next to me and Derrick with an ice pack on his cheek across from me.

What a horrible day this was turning out to be.

After only a couple minutes of waiting, Collin's eyes began to burn a hole through the side of my head. I was fuming beside him and tried to act like his staring had no affect on me, "Don't be mad at Brady. He was only trying to protect you back there."

I stayed quiet, lightly tapping my foot on the ground as I stared at the clock above Derrick's head.

"Fine, don't talk," he sighed, "If someone was messing with my girlfriend though, I would probably do the same thing."

I heard a callous laugh come out of Derrick's mouth while Collin growled in response.

"You're all a bunch of freaks," Derrick commented from across the room.

"Say it one more time and I'll break your fucking jaw," now Collin was the one who was shaking.

I placed my hand on his arm out of instinct, which gave off the same heat Brady's skin did. I didn't think I could take another person freaking out on me, "Collin, don't," I dug my nails into his skin until I felt the shaking subside, "The only thing I'm mad about is the fact that he's not being honest with me," I blurted it out before I could stop myself. So much for ignoring him.

He nodded, "I get that, and I know he should've told you a long time ago. He's just scared of how you'll react."

I looked straight at his face and opened my mouth to speak again, but the door opened and I no longer had the chance to when Collin was called into the next room. Seth waved at me with a smile as he left, and I managed to smile back at him despite how I felt. I fidgeted in my seat as I waited until it was my turn to be questioned, and I felt Derrick's gaze on me the whole time. As if I didn't already feel completely uncomfortable.

When I was finally called into Principal Shaw's office I mentally prepared myself for what could happen. Collin smiled and gave me a thumbs up as he walked out of the room. The calm expression on his face was what caused me to believe that whatever he was going to ask me wasn't going to be too bad since Collin was still happy. I just had to get through it and then move on.

"Ms. Owens, take a seat please," his usually bright and joyful tone was replaced with one that made him sound intimidating. I sat in the seat directly across from him and folded my hands in my lap, "I assume you saw everything that happened in the cafeteria."

I nodded and kept my gaze on my fingers, "Then can you please explain to me exactly what it was that you saw happen."

I cleared my throat before I spoke, "I was heading towards my table and wasn't paying attention. I accidentally bumped into Derrick, which caused all of his food to fall on the floor," I glanced at him and watched as he wrote in the small notepad on the desk in front of him, "I apologized and tried to help him clean it all up. I even told him I would give him the money for the food, and he said he wouldn't take money from a whore like me. That's when Brady punched him."

His eyebrows rose at my words, "And you're sure that's what he said?"

I became angry then, as if I needed to spell the whole thing out for him. Maybe he didn't believe me, as if I cared anyways. I was telling the truth and I didn't need him to validate that for me.

"Yeah, I'm positive. Brady was just trying to protect me."

He sat back in his chair and began to bite on one end of his pen, "What he did was violent, and I can't let this sort of behavior happen at my school. It doesn't matter why he might've done it, that doesn't make it any more permissible."

"I never said it did," I became more and more frustrated with every word he spat at me. I didn't care about the power this man had over me, and I didn't care that I could ruin my high school career by talking back. He needed to know the truth, "This wouldn't have happened if the people at this school kept their mouths shut though. It's because of the lies they spread that he beat up Derrick. Every day that I've been here I've been bullied by these people. I get insulted constantly and now people claim that the only reason why me and Brady are dating is because I'm paying him to date me or to have sex with me, whichever one is more popular at the given time. So I really don't think all of this falls on Brady's shoulders. I think it was building up to this, and I think that what happened today just shows you that changes need to be made here. It's only going to get worse if something isn't changed."

He sat still and stared straight at me, making it seem like he was absorbing every single thing I was saying to him. I expected him to yell at me next, to tell me I was suspended or something even worse. I swallowed the saliva that was rising in my throat, trying to keep myself from saying more.

"Your brother used to tell me about how badly people treated you here," he dropped his pen and stopped taking notes as he rubbed his hand over his forehead, "I chose to ignore it since he was always getting in trouble for doing the same sort of thing Brady did today. I thought he was making it up to try and get himself."

My eyes trailed down to my hands again, and memories of my brother protecting me from guys like Ethan and Derrick flitted through my head. I didn't realize until this very moment that what happened to me then and what has happened now could be connected in such similar ways. The two most important people in my life have protected me at this school for the exact same reasons.

"I'll take that into consideration Ms. Owens," he looked at me like he pitied me and everything that I have been through, "And if you ever have a problem you can talk to me about it."

I doubted that would ever happen but I nodded and smiled at him anyways. He let me leave after that, and I walked down the hallway in a complete daze. The more I thought about what Principal Shaw said to me the more I wanted to believe that Noah somehow did send Brady to me, to love me and protect me since he couldn't anymore. I've said it before but more as a theory than anything else, and now I wanted to believe it as fact instead. All I can do is hope that when I finally see my brother again I can validate that those were his exact intentions, that even after death he was still looking out for me.

* * *

I pulled out the book of Bach compositions that Connor had gotten for me for my birthday and placed it on the piano in front of me. I flipped through the pages until I found Piano Concerto number one in D minor. My fingers lightly grazed over the keys on the instrument and as soon as I finished touching each one I began to play. My eyes and hands stayed in perfect harmony as I struck each note that was written on the paper. Playing like this always made me feel calmer, and I let every ounce of frustration and annoyance that had built up inside of me today bubble over right then and there.

My thoughts were no longer scattered and messy, they were focused solely on making sure each note I played sounded beautiful. I didn't want to think about anything else. I just needed to get lost in the beauty of this music.

I played the song all the way through until the very end. The whole time I felt like I was in a completely different world, where it was only me and the piano in front of me. Nothing else was important, and I started to forget about all of things that were troubling me before. I could forget about my problems and focus on this moment.

As the last note of the song finally faded into silence I just sat there. I didn't think, I didn't smile or cry, and I certainly didn't expect to hear footsteps coming into the room. My eyelids slowly closed and I tried to hold onto the serene moment I was having as best as I could before it was gone completely.

I didn't react at all when he sat down beside me on the bench, I just kept looking forward. He grabbed a strand of hair that had fallen out of the French braid I carefully crafted this morning and tucked it behind my ear.

When his warm finger touched my skin for that tenth of a second I became aware of what happened earlier. I realized that I would have to get it through his head that I wasn't going to sit around and wait for him anymore; I needed him to start telling me the truth.

"So they suspended me for a week," he finally started it off, "and they want to bring a counselor into the school to talk with me about my anger issues," he scoffed.

I flipped to another page in my book and began to play a different composition, trying to tune out his voice. He knew that I was ignoring him and I didn't doubt that he knew exactly why I was doing it.

"Melody," he reached his hand out and placed it on top of mine, forcing me to stop playing. It took all the strength inside of me to pull my hand away, "I'm sorry if I made you angry."

I shook my head and closed my book, placing it inside of my bag before I stood up from the bench, "Be honest with me already Brady. Tell me what you're hiding from me."

His jaw clenched and he faced me, "Not now, it has to be someplace private, where it's just you and me. And I need time to think about exactly how I'm going to tell you."

I laughed since I was expecting him to say something like that. I slung my backpack over my shoulder as I started to head for the door, not in any mood to hear any of his bullshit, "Then I'm done."

As soon as I was in the doorway he grabbed my wrist from behind and stopped me. When I turned around towards him my heart was racing and my blood was boiling. For a second it felt like I was back at home, getting ready for a beating from my father. As soon as I jumped to that conclusion I got even more pissed off. Even though I knew he wouldn't hurt me like my father did he still had no right to grab me like that, like he could get me to do whatever he wanted.

Before I even gave it a second thought I slapped him across the cheek, immediately regretting it once I felt pain begin to shoot through each of my fingers. He stood there stunned while I held my hand in front of my face and surveyed the damage. It was turning red and probably would start to bruise later.

"Are you ok?" he began to reach out to touch me, but I took a step away from him. Of course he wasn't affected by that, it's probably just another part of this big secret.

"Don't even think of touching me," I hissed from the pain, "If you can't even trust me to know your secrets then we shouldn't even be together. I told you about everything I've been through, and I told you because I knew I could trust you. You made it abundantly clear that I could, and I don't know what else I could do to let you know that you can trust me too, because you obviously don't."

"I do trust you," his face showed just how conflicted he was; "I don't want to lose you though. And if I tell you I know that's a huge possibility."

"So you have to take that risk or else you definitely will lose me. I'm not going to sit around anymore waiting for you to finally come out with it. I'm sick and tired of waiting."

He kept quiet for a moment, and I didn't try to disrupt the silence. I let the pain in my hand remind me that I couldn't back down on my argument; I had to stick with it. As much as I love him I couldn't be with him anymore if he was going to refuse to be honest with me. We couldn't keep going on like this.

"Tomorrow," I could hear the uncertainty in his voice, "Just give me until tomorrow."

My arms were crossed over my chest, and I knew that I would have to comply with his request in order to hear everything I needed to hear.

"Fine," I replied as I began to head out of the room and down the hallway. I didn't fail to hear his footsteps keeping time with mine behind me.

As I headed for my locker I wished that I could just get over this and stop acting like a jackass. I desperately wanted to just go back to being happy and ignoring the fact that he kept putting it off, but I knew it couldn't happen because of what happened today. If he hadn't beaten up Derrick, then maybe I wouldn't mind staying oblivious. I guess that my eyes were finally opened to what I had been blind to for so long when it happened. I could clearly see that something wasn't normal about him and the rest of his friends. I had all of the pieces to the puzzle now; I just had to figure out how to piece them together.

I took the time in history to cool down from my freak out. I allowed myself to think every bad thought about him that I had left in me before I began to analyze every part of what I had said to him and what he said back to me in a more logical way. It was clear to me that I needed to let out the heap of anger inside of me that was progressively growing bigger and bigger as the day went on, but I could've handled everything better and slapping him was definitely wrong. I tried to reason with myself and say that I had to yell at him so that he would know how horrible I felt, and yet it felt like I still could've done something different.

After the way I treated Brady before I figured he would give me some space once school was over and let me go to my locker by myself. Instead, he followed me again. After I got all of my books that I would need for the weekend I saw him staring at me with the same intensity and adoration that he always did. It was like he completely forgot that I slapped him and yelled at him before, or he just managed to recover extremely quickly.

I mimicked his stance by leaning against my locker, staring up into his eyes.

"Are you going to slap me again or was that just a onetime thing?"

I held my hand up in his face, which was turning into a ton of different colors, "I really don't think I want my hand to look like this any time in the future so probably not."

He grimaced and lightly grabbed my hand, rubbing his thumb over each part that was tender. I saw a guilty look take over his features the longer I stared at him for, and of course I was at the center of that guilt. I knew that I was being overdramatic about everything and that there was nothing that could justify my actions. I can only say that it was a bad day from the start, and I reacted like that because of how wrong everything was going. I still shouldn't have cornered him like I did though. I was being a sucky girlfriend to say the least.

"If you want to wait to tell me, I can live with that. I was just…annoyed that you left at lunch without explaining anything to me. Plus, I was already mad this morning because I have to go home tonight and what Derrick said just made it all worse."

"I get it," he placed his hand on my cheek, smiling at me, "We all have our bad days. And I've put this off enough, I'm telling you tomorrow and that's that."

I bit my bottom lip, "What I did back there was wrong-,"

"No what you did was put me in my place and set me straight. I haven't been fair to you, and I definitely haven't been honest. You just gave me a reality check."

I groaned, "You're way too tolerant of me."

"That's not me tolerating you, it's me loving you."

"No, I'm pretty sure it's just you putting up with my shit."

He laughed and wrapped his arms tight around me, "I'm sorry I bruised your hand, I should've warned you that I have rock hard cheeks."

I chuckled, "A warning would've been nice."

We stood there in each other's arms as people kept passing us by, and I felt tempted to scream at all of them and tell them to leave us alone. I couldn't take their judgments any longer.

I buried my face in Brady's neck, "I hate this school."

His grip on me tightened protectively, "Want to drop out with me?"

"Yes, can we?" unfortunately I was being sarcastic. I wish I could say that seriously.

He snorted and kissed me on the cheek before pulling away from me. He kept one arm around my waist as we started to leave, and both of us glared at anyone that came near us.

"Maybe I should just go on a rampage and beat all of these people up. Do you think that would make them leave us alone?"

I rolled my eyes, "No it would probably just start more rumors, and then you would probably be put into a mental institution."

We made our way out into the parking lot and headed towards his car. When I was just about to get into the passenger's side Brady placed his hand on the door and prevented me from opening it.

I looked at him, confused, "What are you doing?"

He placed a finger under my chin and kissed me. Our lips stayed connected for a few minutes before they were parted again, "I can't let tonight be ruined. I need one more good night with you before I tell you everything tomorrow."

I was kind of confused by that, but wasn't going to argue against whatever he proposed next.

"I'm not taking you home. Even though Sam will rip my head off for it I can't handle seeing you stressed out over being in the same house as that asshole."

I smiled and kissed him one more time, mentally sighing in relief. I was no longer being weighed down by the fact that I had to step back into the pits of hell tonight. I took his words as a hint that I shouldn't think about what could happen tomorrow either, so I put every one of my questions on the back burner as soon as I was sitting in his car. For now, I was going to just enjoy being with him. I was going to have one more perfect night with him before everything changed tomorrow.

**I'm really excited to write the next chapter when he tells her about the wolves! That whole thing has been inside my head since the beginning and I keep replaying it in my head so to finally have it typed out will be great. **

**Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter I know it was kind of violent and mean in the middle...but that's the way it turned out.**

**Question for everyone: How do you think Melody will react when Brady tells her everything in the next chapter?**

**Please Review to let me know what you thought!**

**Thank you! :)**

**~KK**


	29. 27 Raised By Wolves

**Hello again everyone! Thank you so much to all of those who reviewed! I am glad that you guys are enjoying this story so much! **

**All I can say for this chapter is that I'm happy to have finally written it out. We're making some awesome progress on this story :) yayy! I can't wait until you guys see all of the things still to come! **

**Hope you like this chapter as much as the rest!**

****Song for this Chapter- Rules by Jayme Dee

Chapter 27

Raised by Wolves

_I spotted Noah on the other side of the backyard, staring off into the trees while he chewed on a piece of the new nicotine gum he bought for himself. My hands were curled up inside of my pockets and I could smell the fresh spring dew that was covering the ground. A twig broke beneath my foot as I got closer to him, and when I was finally beside him I could see the conflicted look on his face. _

_I didn't know what was going on with him lately. He had been acting so secretive, like there was something he didn't want me to know about. It was strange to say the least; he had never kept things to himself. I was usually the first to know about it._

_For the past week or so Noah's kept to himself, locking himself into his room and not speaking to me. He barely even looks at me anymore and I was starting to really worry about him. _

_As he kicked up some of the dirt on the ground, I kept my eyes focused on only him. Something was wrong and I knew it. I would sit here until it was dark out just to comfort him in some way. It was the least I could do for him. _

_After a few short minutes of silence he finally talked to me, "I need you to promise me something," he said, sounding more determined than he ever has. _

_I nodded so he would know that I was listening, "Don't _ever _tell someone you love them until you know exactly who they are. If they're not honest with you then they're not worth your time."_

_I didn't understand why he would say something like this to me right now out of all times. It was so random and out of the blue, because it wasn't like guys were throwing themselves at me and I didn't particularly find any of the guys around here interesting either. _

_A bad feeling started to settle in the pit of my stomach. For the past week that he's been giving me these little spews of advice every once and a while, and I don't know why but it terrifies me. It feels like I'm losing him._

"_Melody," he turned towards me and grabbed each of my arms as if he was going to force the information he was giving me to stick in my head, "You have to promise me you'll be strong, that you'll protect yourself from anyone who tries to hurt you, guys included."_

_I shook my head, "Noah you're not making sense."_

_He half smiled at me, "It's not supposed to make sense, not now anyways. One day you'll get it though, and you'll be thanking me for giving you a piece of my wisdom."_

_My lips twitched upward for a slight second. I couldn't find it in myself to feel better about anything he just said to me because in my gut I knew that something was wrong with him and I couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was. _

I opened my eyes and looked into the mirror above the sink, watching as the tears ran down my cheeks. I haven't thought about that day at all since his death, the last full day of his life. If I would've realized what his words really meant then maybe I could've stopped him. I should've known that those would be some of the last things I would hear him say to me. I should've known that the reason why he was acting so out of the ordinary was because he was planning on killing himself.

I turned the knob on the sink and splashed the cool water over my face and neck, absorbing every single word he spoke to me that day. I kept his advice in my head as I got ready for what was to come today and how I ended up in here. I woke up this morning all confused and flustered after I discovered that Brady wasn't lying next to me and I was alone. I ate breakfast with his parents after his mom explained to me that he left for work early this morning. They told me embarrassing stories of him as a kid and showed me a bunch of pictures from their family photo album. It was a great distraction from how nervous I felt.

After we ate his mom told me that Brady wanted me to meet him at Sam and Emily's house at one. I assumed that was when it was all going to happen, when I would no longer be kept in the dark. I felt a pressure in my chest the whole time I fixed up my hair and changed into my clothes.

I stared off into space as I sat on Brady's bed, feeling like I was going to puke. I could smell his scent all around me, and that started to make my stomach tie in knots. It was stupid that I was acting so nervous when I didn't even know if what he was going to say to me was bad. Maybe it will be something simple, and I would've gotten all worked up over nothing. But I couldn't shake this feeling inside of me, a feeling that what would happen today would change my whole life. It was a huge assumption to make just based off of a gut feeling.

My eyes closed as I fell back onto his bed, resting my head on the pillow that he slept on last night. I repeated my brother's words of advice in my head, convincing myself that I had to be strong and that it was a good thing that he was telling me today.

For a moment I laughed at myself, because I knew that there was the possibility that it could be something like a foot fetish or a fear of heights. I really was starting to believe that I was overreacting at that point.

It managed to bug me throughout the whole day though. I would come up with a theory in my head and then shut it down and come up with another one. When I got into my truck at ten to one my hands were trembling on the steering wheel like I was heading towards a death trap. I was chewing on my lip like it was a piece of gum and my eyelid began to twitch on top of all of that. Needless to say, I was already late once I left the house because I was procrastinating so much.

On the way to Sam and Emily's I started hyperventilating in my seat and accidentally turned the windshield wipers on when it wasn't even raining. I didn't even attempt to turn them off, fearing that I would lose focus and crash.

After making it about halfway there I got lost for two valid reasons. One, I had only been there once and Brady left me with no directions, bad on his part. And two, I was paying more attention to my swaying windshield wipers than I was to the road, bad on my part. It took me almost an hour until I finally recognized one of the streets Brady took to get there before. I relied on my wonderful memory and somehow ended up at a place that resembled their house. Whether or not it was their small cottage looking home I didn't know. I would have to ring the doorbell to figure it out.

I took a few deep breaths before turning off the ignition, my heart pounding against my ribs like it wanted to burst out of my skin. I didn't even have time to question if I should get out of the car or not, my body just seemed to move on its own accord before my brain told it to do anything. I saw the lights on through the windows as I closed the door behind me and started heading towards the porch. My hands were in the pockets of my sweater and my lip was starting to bleed from how much I was gnawing on it.

I almost slipped as I walked up the steps because my legs were wobbling. I grabbed onto the railing for support while I went up the last step, hearing his voice in my head when I was face to face with the door.

"_If they're not honest with you then they're not worth your time."_

It was Brady's time to be honest with me, because I knew for a fact that he was worth every single minute of my time.

I raised my hand to knock on the door, but almost fell backwards when it opened on its own. I let my eyes graze over every inch of him, his bare chest, his cut off shorts and his disheveled hair. It was his face that I was fixated on for the longest time, and I noticed that he looked about as scared as I felt. His lips twitched upward into the ghost of a smile I had become familiar with, and before any of us could say anything he scooped me up into his arms and lifted me off of the ground. He held onto me desperately, like I was going to be gone at any moment, which was making me feel even more afraid.

I enjoyed every minute that I was in his arms, trying my best not to spoil it with words that didn't have to be said. We stayed that way on the porch for a while, letting our hearts thud against each other's chests while our uneven breaths came in and out at the same time.

He kissed my neck and sighed, "Time to be honest with you," he mumbled against my skin.

I squeezed him once more before we both let go of each other and I was firmly standing on my own two feet again. He closed the door to Sam and Emily's house before I could even see if anyone was inside.

His hand was laced through mine as we went back down the steps and started to head around the side of the house.

"Where are we going?"

He looked back at me as we walked, his eyes full of worry, "Into the woods."

I raised an eyebrow at him, "Wha-,"

"Just trust me, ok?"

I moved closer to him and nodded hesitantly, keeping my mouth shut for the rest of the time. Brady's palms began to sweat once we were out of their backyard and officially making our way through the forest. We walked for a few yards until we ended up in a tiny clearing in the trees. I was completely confused as to what his secret had to do with the woods. Maybe it was just for the privacy, or maybe he was going to tell me he was secretly raised by wolves as a kid.

I mentally slapped myself for my last thought, trying to clear my head so I could stop guessing and just listen to him.

He let go of my hand with his back facing me, and I didn't even attempt to look anywhere else, fearing that I might possibly miss something. For a couple of minutes everything was quiet and he still wouldn't face me. I waited and waited, looking firmly at him and anticipating what he was going to tell me.

My heart was pounding like mad inside of me, and I felt my breathing become ragged from how much my nerves were beginning to take over. A rush of cool air flew past us and I wrapped my arms around my torso to keep the cold out. I could barely feel the heat that always radiated from his skin over here, and just as I was about to take a step closer, he faced me.

His eyes were pleading with me, and he opened his mouth to speak. No words managed to come out of them. I shuffled forward and grabbed his hand again, trying to let him know that I was all ears.

"Do you," he stopped himself for a second, regaining his breath before trying it again, "do you remember the legends Billy told us at the bonfire?"

That was the last place I expected him to go with this. I had to search through my head to find the right answer. All I really remember was Billy telling us something about wolves and something about Taha Aki. I was half asleep when he told them, so you can't blame me if they escaped my mind.

"Bits and pieces," I replied, waiting for him to elaborate.

He closed his eyes for a second before he continued, "There's the legend of the spirit warriors who were able to…shift into another form, and how the power of Taha Aki changed it so they would be able to shift into wolves."

All he did was stare at me to see how I was taking all of this. I was still confused so I just stood there and nodded for him to go on.

"The magic continued on for generations, and these wolves sole purpose was to protect the people of the tribe from any danger that approached. Whenever that danger would come near the reservation, more of the tribe would develop the fever, which caused them to become one of these shape shifters."

I shook my head frantically from side to side, "I don't know where you're going with this Brady. This isn't making-,"

"I'm one of those shape shifters."

And the words got caught right in my throat. My mouth was hanging open and I stood there frozen. I looked at him incredulously and began to think this was all just some sort of joke. He had to be saying this as a way to break the ice, to lead into the actual secret and relieve some of the tension that was obviously hanging in the air all around us.

"You can't be serious," I took a step backwards, letting go of his hand as I did it.

"It's true," his eyes were still begging for me to understand, and I tried to search for something in him that indicated that this was all a joke.

"Brady this isn't funny. Just tell me the truth already," I spit it out to try and get him to confess to this lie he was trying to make me believe, but the serious look on his face wouldn't falter for a second.

"That wolf you saw in the woods behind your house was me."

"How did you even know about that?" my eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

He let out a low growl before he moved closer to me until our bodies were practically touching. I couldn't move, because my whole body was shaking.

"The night you were doing your homework outside, after your father had yelled at you, I was there. You called me out of the woods, told me all about it, and I saw the bruise he gave you on your wrist."

I almost fainted from hearing all of that, "So what you were spying on me?" and that was my final attempt to try to get him to take back what he said. I wanted him to tell me he_ was_ spying on me and watching from the sidelines as I petted the wolf that couldn't possibly be him.

"I _was_ the wolf," he ducked his head so we were eye level, "The night Connor got drunk, you saw a wolf out on the road, and then you saw me in the woods. I was out there trying to find him as a wolf."

"You don't have any proof! You can't just say something like that and then not back it up."

He stood up straight, his breath tickling my face as he sighed, "Believe me I have proof."

My hands formed into fists, and I was squeezing them so hard that my nails were now painfully digging into my skin.

"Then show m-me," my voice shook because I wasn't sure if I actually wanted to see it if he was telling me the truth. I would probably pass out.

He backed up until he was on the side of the clearing that was opposite from me, his eyes never leaving my face. As he began to undo the button on his shorts I let out a small squeak.

"What are you doing? I didn't ask you to strip for me!"

In spite of all of the weariness I knew he was feeling he chuckled at my statement.

"Just trust me Mel."

I slapped my hands over my eyes and heard him start to take his shorts off again. I adjusted my fingers so I could just see a tiny bit of him and was ready to die of embarrassment when I caught sight of his private area. My cheeks burned as I kept watching in curiosity and was just about to scream when I started to see his body shifting in unnatural ways. His bones crunched and his muscles shredded as he seemed to shed his skin. Fur began to sprout out of every part of him and my hands dropped limply to my sides when I finally saw a huge wolf standing right in front of me. The same wolf that I had confided in when there was no one else to talk to. The wolf that was always watching me. My wolf.

He had paws and a tail, and the face of a normal wolf, but his eyes were the only thing that convinced me that it was Brady. They were exactly the same shade of brown that I had always been captivated by, and I suddenly felt stupid that I hadn't realized this before.

This wolf and Brady were one in the same.

"Holy shit," I began to feel dizzy, "Brady?"

He let out some sort of barking sound and moved his head up and down happily. When he took a couple steps towards me I cringed a bit, feeling my fingers starting to tingle. I couldn't even begin to process anything that was happening right before my eyes. My brain was still slowly trying to put two and two together, that Brady was a wolf.

As soon as that thought entered my mind I went completely numb and tumbled down to the forest floor. I laid there on the ground, staring up at the sky in shock. I waited for unconsciousness to consume me or to wake up from this dream, but it wouldn't happen, because it wasn't a dream.

I heard a low whimper come from the animal….Brady….animal. I don't know.

I stayed that way on the ground and soon heard the ripping and shredding noise again. When I finally started to hear footsteps coming towards me I let out the breath I had been holding in for the past ten minutes.

"Melody…are you alright?" he hovered above me on all fours, his voice sounding broken.

I examined him all over and questioned how he could ever turn into that thing and then just return back to his normal self without a scratch on him. I daringly looked up at his face, meeting his eyes.

"You just," I couldn't spit it out, "You were just a…a…"

"Wolf," he finished.

I rose up onto my elbows and he was still hovering close to me, "How?"

"We phase to protect the tribe from danger," he examined me before continuing, "meaning vampires. Once one of the bloodsuckers comes into town it triggers the fever."

Vampires? What the fuck?

I laid back down onto my back and closed my eyes tight, pinching myself and opening them, repeating the process a bunch of times.

"What are you doing?" he asked, choosing to sit beside me instead of practically pinning me down to the ground.

"Trying to wake up," I admitted.

He let out a deep breath, "Look, I know it's a lot to take in and you're probably thinking that something like vampires and werewolves could never exist," I nodded in agreement, "but they do exist, even though it all sounds so fucked up," I nodded again, "Look, I know that I should've told you sooner, so you could run if you wanted to. Well, I guess if you wanted to run now you could do that too."

I sat up again, trying to calm myself down enough to actually speak proper English, "How do you become one though? Do you get bit or something?"

He shook his head, making sure to keep his eyes off of me, "It's genetic, so I can't really help it."

I frowned a little bit then, wondering how he felt about that, "Do you like being a…a w-wolf?"

It was so difficult to try to talk about it nonchalantly, like it was a part of normal everyday life. Then that would mean that those fairytales and horror stories I heard about as a kid were fact instead of fiction. There really were shape shifters and people that wanted to suck your blood straight out of your veins.

Brady shrugged, "I couldn't picture myself not being one," our eyes connected and my muscles relaxed a bit, "It's a part of who I am, and I've learned to accept that. It led me to you."

I pursed my lips, hanging onto his last words, "What do you mean it led you to me?"

His breath hitched after I asked that and his face began to turn red. I didn't know why he would even react that way, did I say something wrong? Was that a touchy subject for him? God I don't understand _any _of this.

"It's another part of the whole wolf thing," he mumbled.

He stayed quiet with a frustrated look on his face, it was like he didn't want to get into this, like it was meant for another time.

"What is it?" I pushed on.

He grumbled and muttered something under his breath before turning his body so we were now facing each other. I was calm for the moment, and I only thought about Brady as being purely human to keep myself under control.

"That day you jumped off of the cliffs. Do you remember when you were in the woods heading up to the top?"

My eyebrow arched in suspicion and I brought myself back to that day even though I really didn't want to. I remember parking my car in the lot by the beach, and then I started to make my way through the trees. It became more and more difficult to walk as I got higher up. I was almost out of breath and my eyes were full of tears that I had no chance of stopping. Just as I started to hear the crashing of the waves against the side of the cliffs, I also heard rustling to my left. And when I turned to see what it was I suddenly met the eyes of a wolf. A dark brown wolf.

"Oh God, you were there in the woods."

I felt so stupid for not being able to remember that until right now. I guess I couldn't blame myself for erasing most of that day from my memory, it was the worst day of my entire life. Who would want to remember the day your brother killed himself? Better yet who would want to remember all of the details leading up to your attempt at suicide?

He nodded, "And do you remember_ feeling_ something when you saw me?"

I rummaged through my brain to find the answer to that. I closed my eyes so I could picture it better. The whole scene played out once more and it felt as if I was actually there, experiencing it all again. When I heard the rustling again and looked at the wolf I connected eyes with it immediately. I stopped dead in my tracks and kept gaping at the creature right beside me, feeling some sort of fired ignite inside of me as I looked at it. It was just this one tiny spark that caused the fire, and it made me doubt what I was going to do for a second. One look at this animal and I was ready to spend all day with it instead of leaving this world for good.

"I wanted to stop," my eyes fluttered open, meeting his gaze, "it felt like…like I should go to you. I was being drawn towards you."

He reached out and touched my cheek for a moment before he focused on the ground, "I imprinted on you."

I blinked a few times and tried to come up with some sort of idea of what imprinting was. I've heard of it in biology, about newborn animals imprinting on their mothers, but how the hell could something like that apply to us? It didn't seem too logical to me.

"What do you mean you_ imprinted_ on me?" I asked so he could clarify it for me.

"It's this thing where," he paused, grinding his teeth and trying to come up with the right thing to say, "where you see her and everything shifts so that the only thing keeping you firmly on the ground is that girl. Everything you have ever done or will ever do changes…and she becomes the center of your whole world. She's the reason why you wake up in the morning, and nothing is more important than protecting her and loving her. You would rather die than be without her, because she's your soul mate."

I narrowed my eyes at him as I absorbed what he was telling me. My stomach began to churn again which made me want to vomit, and I could feel my head starting to pound.

"So…we're soul mates?"

And all it took was a nod from him to confirm it. That day when I had wanted to die, the day I lost my brother was the day he saw me for the first time. It was the day that he finally noticed me after all the years we had gone to school together. The day that he imprinted on me.

"So you saved me not because you wanted to, but because of some…_thing_ that made me your soul mate?"

He sighed and rubbed his face with his palms, obviously expecting me to say something like this, "It didn't force me to do anything. I chose to save you out of my own free will."

"But if you hadn't seen me then you would've never imprinted. And if you never imprinted, then you never would have even known I existed."

I was ready to leave, to be rid of all of these things that I didn't understand. It was hard to accept the fact that just one look had changed everything for him. He went from not knowing I existed to putting me at the center of his world. I was alive because of something that shouldn't even exist, some sort of magical force.

I stood up and put some distance between us, running my hands through my hair a couple of times to try to soothe the ache in my head.

"We're soul mates Melody. Whether I noticed you right then or noticed you a year after that I would've fallen in love with you."

I denied it, "No, you wouldn't have, because I would be dead."

He shuddered and took a moment to think that through before he stood up and casted a dark shadow over me, showing off just how much taller he was than me, "It wasn't your time to go. Why can't you just accept that?"

"I did accept it! That was before you brought imprinting into the mix, before you were a _wolf man_ and before the supernatural existed!" I stopped to take a breath, "Now I know the truth. I know why you decided to start talking to me, and I know why you _think_ you love me. It's because of imprinting. It chained you to me."

He growled, "No, it didn't. We belong together, and it opened my eyes to see that. It was me this whole time; I chose to be with you. I could've walked away, but I didn't."

"You said that you saw me and I became the center of your world, nothing else mattered but me. That wouldn't have happened if you didn't see me…imprint on me or whatever you call it."

He didn't say anything and I knew that my words were finally starting to stick with him. He couldn't deny what was true, what was laid out right in front of him. I wanted to stop this, to go back to yesterday and take back what I did, because it would be better to be blind to the truth. And the truth was that I had been fooling myself all along, fooling myself to believe that someone as great as him could ever fall in love with someone like me. What a cruel thing fate was. He didn't deserve to be dragged down by me because of some stupid thing called imprinting. He deserved the right to choose what he wanted on his own.

"Tell me this," my voice cracked because of the tears that were starting to swell up in my eyes and cascade down the sides of my face, "if you never changed and were the same person you were before you became a werewolf, would you have talked to me? Do you _really_ think we would be standing here right now?"

"That doesn't matter. We would've been brought together some way or another at some point in our lives."

I shook my head, "Answer the question!" I hissed.

He seemed to be set back by my harsh tone, and he suddenly looked like he was going to fall to pieces right before my eyes. And I could only think that it was because of what the answer would be. He knew that he couldn't convince me to like imprinting and everything that went along with it. He kept his mouth shut tight though, not wanting to speak the words that would only make this whole thing worse.

I should've known that there was something behind all of this, because there is no possible way to go from completely ignoring someone to loving everything about them. Love isn't supposed to work that way. Being human we have the freedom to fall in love with whoever we want, and Brady didn't get that choice. He was forced to be stuck with me, and there was no way he could resist.

"Melody, I love you," he placed his hands on my cheeks and the heat burned me. I closed my eyes and told my heart to stop speeding up, because I couldn't hear him say that when imprinting was the first thing that came to my mind.

He kissed me on the lips and the spark that always ran its course through my veins made me feel even worse. I knew he was trying to win me over again, to make me understand, but I couldn't, not until I was one hundred percent sure that it was him saying it to me and not some magical force.

When he realized I wasn't kissing him back he opened his eyes and watched the tears fall off my jaw. He let go of me and took a step back, waiting for me to say what I needed to.

"I don't know if I can believe you, not until you can finally choose what you really want. And the only way that can happen is if we stay away from each other."

His eyebrows casted down onto his eyes, "I want you."

It was a stab right to the chest and I put my hands back into my pockets to restrain myself from going to him, "Stop it," I whispered, "you need to forget about us, clear your head and think through everything. You need to start over and realize that you can have someone so much better than me. I know you're strong enough to resist this imprinting stuff."

"I don't want to forget about it, and I'm not going to go looking for anyone else. You're it for me."

I resisted the pull that was tugging me towards him and started to walk my way out of the clearing, not wanting to hear anything else he was going to say. Brady followed me without any hesitation. I thought that once we had gotten out of the woods that he would let me go on my own, but he didn't stop.

"Brady," I turned around, "don't make this harder than it has to be."

"It doesn't have to be this way though. We can be together," one look at his pained face and I wanted to get into the fetal position and await my death. It was so hard to just stand here and not take his words into consideration. It took everything in me to resist the urge to take back all of the things that I said, but I knew I couldn't. I couldn't be selfish, he needed his free will back. Imprinting had taken it away from him the moment he laid eyes on me.

"I don't want to be with you if it's something that's forced. I want it to be real, and the only way for that to happen is if we stay away from each other," I felt myself starting to crumble, "You need to make your own choices for once Brady, and it's never going to happen if I'm around you. So," I paused, hoping that I was doing the right thing, "so I'm ending this…you and me."

It looked like I had just physically punched him in the gut. I tried not to let him see my tears as I headed in the direction of my truck. When I finally managed to get my keys out of my sweater I unlocked the door and began to open it. His hand immediately forced it shut again.

"I can't stay away from you," his hot breath caused goose bumps to appear over every inch of my body, "It'll kill me to be away from you."

I closed my eyes, "You have to try," I firmly grabbed the door handle and waited for his hand to move away, "just promise me you'll try."

I could see his arm starting to shake and I instantly knew that he was done trying to fight me, "I promise," I almost didn't hear it because he said it so softly.

When I pried the door open again he didn't try to stop me from getting into the truck, and I found it tremendously difficult to even start it in the first place. I glanced at him one more time, seeing his head hanging low and his whole body quivering, and then I pulled out of the driveway as fast as I possibly could.

The whole time that I drove I felt like I was in some state of shock. Knowing that just this morning I was completely comfortable with where I stood with Brady had me wishing that I didn't push him to be honest with me yesterday. I knew from the beginning that being in love with someone like him had its risks, and it wasn't until now that I realized I was stupid for ever thinking that there wasn't some sort of catch to it. I could have Brady, but only through imprinting.

Imprinting. The word even sounded horrible. I wish it didn't exist, that he would've met me years from now in his own way like it should be. Maybe we would've been introduced by friends or accidentally bumped into each other, something that would make a great story for our kids someday. It would be nice if things worked out perfectly in that way, because then I wouldn't be here crying my eyes out.

Brady needed to have a choice though. He needed to know that I wasn't the only girl out there and that imprinting didn't have to rule his life. If he wanted someone else, someone better, than I can accept that. At least I could go on knowing that he's happy, whatever his choice may be.

**So I know a lot of you wanted her to just accept the wolf/imprint thing, but I think that just being totally ok with something that out of the ordinary would be too weird. I know if I heard something like that I would freak out too...but I hope you liked it despite what you might have been hoping to read. You may not like what she has done, but it's the direction I wanted to go in. **

**AND RANDOM QUESTION! I'm obsessed with The Walking Dead and it's coming back on Sunday (DARYL DIXON MUST NOT DIE!) and I was just wondering if there were any TWD fans out there reading this? If you are out there then leave a review or PM me cause I want to know what you think of the show! :)**

**And if you don't watch it then you should start because it's the best...**

**My work is done here.**

**~KK**


	30. 28 Goodbye Brady

**It's been a really long time since I've posted something on this site. I don't know what made me finish this chapter, but many people (some old and some new) have been reviewing and contacting me about updating so I decided to give it a shot. It has taken me a few weeks to finish this chapter because I wanted it to be the best it could be and I hope I have accomplished that to those of you who are still interested in this story.**

**So all I want to say is thank you to those people who have left reviews and messages asking me to continue writing :) I'm still here just not as much.**

**Enjoy!**

Song for this Chapter- Poison and Wine by The Civil Wars

Chapter 28

Goodbye Brady

"Wipe that shit off of your God damn face!"

My eye started to throb as I laid there on the floor, trying not to think about anything as he kept on hitting me and pulling me around by my hair. I didn't have a chance to do what he asked because the tears wouldn't stop coming, and they definitely weren't going to stop just because _he_ wanted them to.

When he finally backed off a bit I rose up off of the floor slowly, and hissed through the pain that spread through every part of me. The bruises that were beginning to form all over my body made it harder to stand up straight and I tasted blood in my mouth from the cut on my lip. My stitches were stinging horribly since he decided to grab my right arm instead of my left and I felt like I was about to pass out at any given time.

I kept my bad arm tucked close against my chest as I headed for the stairs, glancing at the bandages that covered his arms and flinching just from the sight of them. I tried to convince myself that it was just a coincidence that those blood stains resembled the shape of claws. I wanted to believe that he just got scratched by a normal animal, and even though I knew that wasn't true I couldn't bring myself to accept the fact that Brady would do something like that…that he really wasn't fully human.

I stared at him for a second too long and as soon as he noticed what I was doing he started coming after me again. I tried to run up the stairs before he could catch me, but he grabbed me by the ankle and dragged me back to where I started so he could hurt me even more.

I closed my eyes and waited for him to finish tearing me apart. And just as I was finally becoming completely numb to the pain a howl erupted through the house. He stopped mid-punch and looked towards the back door. I followed his gaze and attempted to regain my breath.

Like always, he grabbed his shotgun out of the hallway closet and stepped right over me so he could try to catch the wolf. And I suddenly came to realize that it was Brady who was saving me from a beating all of those times. Brady and whoever else was a…shape shifter. They saved my life more than once and I was thankful and freaked out by it all at the same time.

My first instinct was to run outside and see if the wolf was ok, but then I realized that this wolf was Brady and I had broken up with him less than an hour ago. I let out something that sounded like a whimper and let myself become consumed by thoughts of everything that happened today. He never loved me for real. It was fake, something that was thrust upon him. The cruel thing about all of it was that my feelings for him were one hundred percent real, and I did fall in love with him. I loved him because of who he was and who I became when he came into my life, not because of some dumb thing called imprinting.

I sat up and wiped the blood off of my lip as I kept my eyes on the back door. I tried to ignore all of the urges inside of me that were telling me to go outside, because I knew that it would only make things worse. Even though it was hurting like hell to not just give in I was doing this all for his benefit, so that Brady could finally realize that his life was his and he could make his own choices.

I could barely see out of my left eye from how swollen it was, but I tried my best to stand up so I could get upstairs as fast as possible.

When I was finally up off the ground, I made my way to safety, ignoring all of the pain it caused. It took me a while to reach the top of the stairs, and when I did I immediately went to Noah's room instead of my own. I tried to make myself believe that I was going in there because it was closer to the stairs, but I really knew that I was doing it just so I wouldn't have to see Brady standing out there watching me all night.

I immediately slammed the door shut and made my way over to his bed, burying my head into his pillow and trying to forget about everything that was hurting me. It didn't take long for the tears to start streaming down my face again, and once the first thoughts of Brady appeared in my mind I started sobbing like a fool.

It hurt to know that as soon as I felt completely content with everything in my life it all managed to get screwed up. I didn't understand why I had to end up being so miserable all of the time. Did I really deserve to go through all of this? Was it too much to ask to be happy?

I could only assume that it really was since I ended up here in this bed, hurting all over. Once I had finally gotten to the light at the end of the tunnel, the darkness scooped me up into its iron grasp and pulled me back into its bottomless pit.

I fought back and forth with myself for a while, wondering if I did the right thing by ending it with Brady. I could've stayed and avoided all of this, but then that would mean that I was accepting everything he told me, that I wasn't freaked out by all of it. Then that would be a lie, because I was honestly terrified. To know that the person you're in love with isn't completely human was a lot to take in. And when you add on everything else that comes along with that it just brings it to a whole other level.

I never expected this to happen, not now and definitely not the way it did. I figured that he would realize later on that he was too good for me, and that I would be in a completely different place in my life, a place where I could accept his rejection. I guess my predictions were all wrong, because even though it was my choice to break up with him I still felt like I lost half of myself. Even though I knew that he needed to make his own decisions and that we needed to be away from each other I still cried as if it was his fault.

It wasn't his fault at all though. He couldn't help the fact that he was a shape shifter and was doomed from the moment he laid eyes on me. Imprinting was the one to blame.

I laid on my side and stared at the wall across from me, only visible because of the light that was coming through the window above the bed.

I wanted to become numb to all of this pain, completely numb. I wanted to forget about everything and I wanted to stop this crying that always devoured me.

There was one way I could do it. I could resort to cutting again, but just the thought of it made my stomach tie in knots. It was something I promised my brother I wouldn't do, and even though it was extremely tempting I couldn't let him down now.

I bit my lip and curled my fist into Noah's sheets, trying to stop myself from getting up and going to get my old razor. The only thing that really kept me in place was the fact that he could catch me, and I definitely wasn't prepared for another beating.

I rolled around again and looked to the tiny closet that was in the corner of the room. The idea popped into my head as soon as I realized what was in there. I remembered when my brother used to take bottles of alcohol from the stash our dad kept downstairs and put it in there to try and get him to stop drinking. The only thing it did was force him to go out and buy more.

For a while I thought he only did it for that one sole reason, but then I realized more and more of the bottles would disappear after a while. Either our father found the hiding spot or Noah had the same idea that I was coming up with right now.

It took a minute for me to build up the strength to actually sit up from the comfortable position I was in. I groaned as I stood and I finally managed to make my way over to the closet after five minutes of just trying not to collapse.

I leaned most of my weight onto the door and turned the knob, barely being able to see anything that was inside of the closet since it was pitch black in the room. I reached down to the floor and dug my way through all of the dirty clothes and pointless things piled up in the tiny space. When I reached towards the back I felt my fingers collide with something smooth and hard like glass. I snatched it up as soon as I had a grip on it and brought the bottle over to my spot on the bed.

I let out a deep sigh as I laid down again, feeling my muscles relax. I held up the bottle in front of my face and noticed that only a quarter of it was missing. It would be enough, I was sure of that. I shined the label in the light from the window and squinted in order to read it better. Jack Daniels was about to become my best friend for the night.

My fingers clamped around the cap and twisted it open, bringing the bottle close to my nose and smelling the contents inside of it. My nostrils immediately burned from the stench and I tried to act as if I wasn't completely disgusted.

I've never had alcohol in my life before. Every time I was ever offered any I would refuse, because I didn't want to be like my father. Even though I completely hated the very thought of alcohol and all of the hurt it's caused me I knew that it could take away what was hurting me for a little while. I would allow myself to cheat just this once.

Without thinking, I quickly took a huge swig from the bottle, letting everything that was troubling me leave my mind as the burning sensation made its way down my throat. I tried my best not to gag as I took another drink and then another. It tasted disgusting, but I figured that that wasn't the reason why people drank it. It was the feeling it gave you after you drank it that was so desirable.

After only a few drinks I started to feel a buzz. My stomach was ready to get rid of everything that was inside of it while I felt determined to drink the whole bottle until the very last drop. My throat felt like it was on fire, but it helped because it kept me focused on that instead of everything else. I could feel all of the pain slowly leave my body as I finished the bottle off. It took me less than five minutes for my vision to become blurry, and the whole room started spinning after that.

I closed my eyes so that I wouldn't feel nauseous, smiling from the satisfaction I felt at the moment. I started to laugh for no reason and almost rolled off the bed since I couldn't actually tell where it ended. I was completely disoriented and before I knew it, I actually did end up on the floor. I giggled to myself as the dizziness only got worse, and as I started to see four ceilings instead of two everything started to turn black. I didn't remember anything that happened next as I slipped deeper into the darkness.

* * *

My stomach clenched and my eyes opened as my throat burned with a vengeance. I looked around and realized that I somehow managed to travel into my room and hide myself in my own closet. I opened the doors and wiped off the layer of sweat that covered my forehead. As soon as I stood and moved to the middle of my room, I regretted it.

My hands were shaking and my head was pounding. I felt the contents of my stomach begin to travel their way up my throat while everything around me began to spin. The feeling made me gag and I covered my mouth before it could end up on the floor.

I darted out of my room and into the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet before I tossed my cookies. The bruises all over my body made the sick experience even more unbearable. Every time I thought the torture was over more vomit would make its way out of my body. After almost ten minutes, my stomach was entirely empty, and I was convinced that I had gotten rid of all of the alcohol.

Now I remember why I don't ever drink. Even though the immediate feeling was enjoyable the end result was too much to bear. It did its job though, it kept me distracted. So distracted that I managed to pass out for who knows how long.

I rested my head up against the wall behind me and moaned softly, my sweaty hands shaking in my lap. I rested my eyes for a while, waiting for sleep to consume me but it never did. I grunted after a few minutes and finally decided I should at least_ try_ to regain some dignity. I slid my way up the wall carefully, and grit my teeth through the pain it caused. I reached out and grabbed onto the sink with both hands, putting all of my weight on it.

Once I finally caught sight of myself I realized how pathetic I looked. My eye was purple and swollen, my bottom lip busted open, dry blood stuck to my chin, and bruises lined up and down my arms. The worst of it was the tears that were dried on my cheeks, reminding me of why I ended up here.

I spit into the sink to get rid of the taste of blood and vomit before I turned the water on in the shower. I stripped down until I was bare and I wrapped my stitches in layers upon layers of gauze before stepped inside. Not once did I flinch away from the intense heat that pelted down onto my body. I didn't clean myself at first, I couldn't manage to tear my eyes away from the blood and throw up that was making its way down the drain. I stood there for a long time until the memories of today finally caught up with me.

I burst into another fit of tears that forced me to buckle over. When my legs couldn't take it anymore, they gave out from underneath me and I collapsed onto the floor of the shower. I stayed that way for what seemed like forever. Every time that I tried to stop crying something else would cause more tears to fall from my face. All of the holes that had once been filled were open again, except now they seemed to be even bigger than before.

How could this happen? How could I go from having everything one minute to nothing the next? I loved him. I had let down all of my walls because I thought he loved me back. But how can I know if that's true?

I can't. I really can't.

I opened my eyes and set them on the wall in front of me. Even though all I wanted to do right now was just sit here and wallow in my misery I had something more important to think about. I needed to come up with a plan. I couldn't stay in this house, not if I was going to end up in this state every night.

I placed my hand on the wall beside me and stood up straight, trying to find some trace of strength in me to wash myself. I took one deep breath before I picked up the bar of soap. I scrubbed and scrubbed until the whole day was washed away from my body.

Once I finished I wrapped myself in a towel and immediately placed my ear up against the door. I grabbed my dirty clothes from the floor when I knew he wasn't out there and scurried back into my room. When I went to my closet to pick out a new outfit I let out yet another painful moan.

There was practically nothing in there except for a skimpy tank top that I hated. The same went for my drawers, even my brush was missing.

I was suddenly brought back to the night when Brady and I climbed up that tree outside my window to retrieve my things. At that time I never dreamed that I would be in this position right now. I stuffed as much of my things as I could into that duffel bag without thinking about what the future could hold.

Even though I was frustrated with myself for being so stupid I snatched the horribly revealing white tank top and put it on. I pulled out the only pair of shorts left in my drawers and slipped them on as well. The shorts had a few small holes in them but I could manage. The shirt still made me feel uncomfortable though. I quickly ran to Noah's room and grabbed another one of his sweaters from his closet, putting it on as soon as I was back in my room.

Now that that's settled I have to think of where I'm going to go. I hate to say it but I really need to get my bag.

I groaned at the thought of having to see Brady's face again after I just broke up with him. He's supposed to be forgetting about me, and if I showed up then it would only make it worse for the both of us. But I needed my clothes and my toothbrush, not to mention the picture I had stuffed in the bag.

When I glanced over at the clock on my nightstand my eyes practically bugged out of their sockets. It was almost four thirty in the morning. God, how long did I pass out for?

I pursed my lips and shook my head, trying to focus on coming up with a plan instead of the time.

Well, I knew I would have to go to Brady's house but it would be much easier if I didn't have to go alone. Connor was my only option really. I didn't want to ask any of Brady's friends. Honestly, just the thought of them made me feel queasy all over again.

So, Connor it is I guess. Then once I get my bag I can figure out where I will go.

As soon as I was finished thinking about it I walked over to my window and opened it, welcoming the soothing breeze that hit my face when I stuck my head out into the open.

I squinted towards the forest and made sure that I didn't see any wolves before I climbed my way down the tree and landed on the ground below. I put the hood of Noah's sweater over my head to conceal my face just in case he was out there somewhere, and I walked my way around the house.

* * *

I watched the waves make their way towards the shore when the sun began to rise. My feet started to dig deeper into the sand and I tried my best not to think about all of the memories that were buried in this beach. All of the moments I shared with Brady seem so distant to me now.

I pulled my knees up close to my chest in an attempt to keep myself from falling apart. When I closed my eyes all I saw was him, and I felt the need to go to him and take back everything I said.

But I knew I couldn't. It would be selfish of me to do it.

I grabbed my phone to check what time it was and my heart sank when I saw all of the missed calls from him. He left three voicemails.

Before I could stop myself I pressed play on the first message. My shaky hand brought the phone up closer to my ear.

"Melody," he paused and I tried to convince myself that he wasn't actually starting to cry, "I…I…damn it! I fucked up ok? I know you already said you don't believe me, but I love you," I could hear him take a deep breath before he continued, "I swear I do," he sobbed, "so can you please…think things through? Shit that sounds so stupid but I don't know what else to say. I really…I really don't," there was a long moment of silence before he began to speak again, "Don't go back there, please just stay away from that house."

He hung up after that.

I slammed the phone shut and stared out at the ocean for a while, trying to absorb what I had just heard. Just the sound of his voice made me feel weak. Hearing him sound so desperate and hurt made me want to run to his house and let him know just how much I really loved him.

I curled my hands into fists and pressed them into my eyes.

No, I couldn't do that. I needed to let him go and just stop thinking about him. Why was this so difficult for me to comprehend? Why couldn't I just move on?

_Because we're soul mates, _I thought.

"Ugh!" I groaned and fell onto my back. I stared up at the clouds as that one phrase burned itself into my brain. I stayed in that position for a long time, trying to make it go away, but it seemed so determined to stay at the forefront of my mind.

At around eight o'clock I decided to stick with my plan and call Connor. I wasn't going to go running back to Brady; he needed to be away from me. Even though it's killing me I have to give him space.

I dialed Connor's number and held the phone up to my ear.

The phone rang four times before he picked up, "Hello?" he sounded groggy, which meant that I woke him up. Well it was only Sunday you can't blame him for sleeping in.

"Hey Connor," my voice cracked.

"Are you ok?" he cleared his throat, "You sound upset."

I shook my head, "Can you meet me at the beach?" I paused for a moment, "I need your help."

"What's this abo-,"

"Just meet me here. It's a lot to explain and I don't feel like doing it over the phone."

I heard movement coming from the other end, "I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

I hung up the phone without another word.

When he arrived at the beach I tried to keep my face concealed with the hood of the sweater so that he wouldn't initially freak out. I stared down at my feet when he was standing next to me.

"What's going on?" he sounded worried.

I sighed, "Don't freak out ok? I need you to stay calm."

He sat down and I could feel his eyes staring straight at me, waiting for me to clear everything up.

I slowly turned my face towards him, finally getting a good look at him. His hair was disheveled and he was still wearing his pajamas. This probably meant that he thought something was really wrong, which can only mean that he's going to-

"What the fuck happened to your face?!" his eyes widened in rage.

"It's not that bad," I whispered.

"Not that bad? Are you kidding?" He lightly grabbed my chin and I winced, "I've never seen your face like this Mel."

"I'm fine," I reassured him.

He looked me straight in the eye, "What else did he do to you?"

I shrugged, looking out at the ocean instead of looking at him. I despised the fact that I had to talk about the one thing that I just wanted to forget.

Before I could protest he rolled up my sleeves, revealing the damage done there.

"What, did he beat you with a bat or something?"

"He didn't need a bat to do all of that."

He shook his head and let out a callous laugh, his hands beginning to shake and his anger starting to consume him. He stayed quiet for a while as he surveyed the bruises on my arms and face and the cut on my face. Then it was suddenly as if a huge signal went off in his brain.

"Where was Brady while all of this was going on? Why weren't you with him?"

I bit my lip, anticipating these kinds of questions, "That's why I asked you to come here. We…we broke up. There was nowhere else I could go."

He swore and muttered something I couldn't quite hear, "And he just let you go back there?! To that shit hole? He just decided not to fucking care about your safety at all?!"

I grabbed his arm, "No, it's not like that," I took a moment to collect my thoughts before I continued, "I broke things off with him. I made him promise not to follow me home."

He clenched his jaw and stared at me hard, trying to figure out whether or not I was lying. I didn't want to say more about my encounter with Brady because then he would think I had gone insane. That was all the information I could give him.

"I don't understand, you two seemed perfect for each other."

Even though it sounded a bit awkward coming from him it still hurt like hell to hear. I felt a shiver run down my spine as soon as the wind blew past me. His words were a reminder of the fact that Brady and I belonged together and I had broken up with him.

"It was all wrong," I said, "Our relationship was built on a lie. I thought one thing while he thought something completely different. He lied to me."

That seemed to piss him off even more, "I knew he was bad news from the beginning. I told him to protect you and he screwed it all up. I should've known he would've hurt you."

I didn't feel like thinking about yesterday anymore. All I wanted was to get my stuff and move on, "Well, now that you know I need you to help me."

"Ok," he replied immediately.

"I packed a bag with all of my stuff in it and it's at his house," I sighed, "I really need to get it or else I'll be wearing this for the rest of my life," I gestured to my outfit," and I can't really afford to buy a whole new wardrobe."

He stared at me for a few minutes, looking at me the way I pictured he would look when I told him my plan, "I don't know, this doesn't seem like a good idea. You just broke up with him."

I nodded, "I know, I just really need my stuff. I figured you could go up to the door while I stay in your car, so there doesn't have to be any sort of confrontation between the two of us."

He pursed his lips, "Alright, I'll do it on one condition," I raised my eyebrows, "You have to come stay with me at my house."

"No, I can't do that to you and your parents. I'll just be a burden."

He shrugged, "Fine, then I can't help you. You'll have to do it on your own."

I glared at him in protest. Even though I knew I really needed his help and I didn't have anywhere else to go, I couldn't just barge in on him and his family. He's done so much to help me in the past that it felt wrong to even ask him for this one tiny favor. To ask him to let me live in his home was a totally different story.

Despite how I felt I knew I only had one option, "Alright, I'll stay at your house. You're going to regret it though."

"Oh yeah? And why is that?" he smiled.

"Because apparently I'm so annoying that I deserve to get hit all the time. See? These are proof," I pointed to one of the bruises on my face.

He rolled his eyes while his smile faded, "That's not funny Mel."

"I'm just telling you the truth," because there really was no other explanation for what my father put me through.

* * *

When we pulled up in front of his house I kept my hands curled up into fists inside the pockets of Noah's sweater. I glanced at the house once before I forced myself to stare out the windshield instead. The aching from the bruises on my body became eminent the longer I sat there for. I allowed the feeling to consume me so I wouldn't try to do something stupid.

Once Connor stepped out of the car it became harder to keep my eyes forward, but I wasn't going to give in to what my heart wanted. I needed to put its wants aside for now.

I could faintly hear the sound of Connor's fist against the door. I bit my swollen lip like it was an anchor that would keep me in my seat. It was nearly impossible to not get out of the car once I heard his voice. As if showing up here less than a day after I broke with him wasn't pathetic enough.

After a minute or two of listening to them, I wasn't prepared for the chaos that would take place next. It never occurred to me before that Connor might possibly want to hurt Brady after what I told him, but when I heard Connor begin to scream at him I knew something bad was bound to happen.

I regrettably let my eyes wander over to where they stood, and as soon as I saw Connor's face only inches away from Brady's I was out of the car and heading in their direction.

"-you let her go back there alone knowing what would happen! You fucking bastard!" Connor tried to shove Brady backwards but he barely moved at all.

Brady's eyes suddenly became menacing as he began to shake. I didn't know if this would trigger him to change, but I didn't want to take the chance.

"You have no idea what you're talking about," he growled.

"I know more about what she's been through than you-,"

I stood right between them with my back facing towards Brady, "Stop it Connor! You don't need to defend me!"

"Why not? Someone needs to put this asshole in his place," Connor threw a punch but Brady was fast enough to avoid it.

I put both of my hands on his shoulders, "Enough!" I pushed him farther away from Brady, "Just leave it alone. I didn't want you to get caught up in a fight I just want to get my stuff and go."

"Why don't you show him what he did to you? What his carelessness caused? He should know!"

Before I could think twice about it I slapped his face as hard as I could. It didn't do as much damage as I would've liked but it still got him to shut up.

"What the hell was that for?"

I shook my head, "Just go to the car I'll get the stuff myself."

I finally turned in Brady's direction without making eye contact with him. I felt the heat radiate off of his skin as I headed up the stairs and into his house. I didn't give it any thought when I walked through the door because all I wanted to get my bag and get as far away from this place as possible.

When I walked into his room I instantly went to his closet and pulled out my duffel bag, hearing his footsteps coming into the room. I turned around hesitantly, both wanting and not wanting to see him.

"I'm sorry about what he did," the words came out too fast for me to stop, "I had no idea-,"

"You don't have to apologize," his voice sounded broken.

I took a moment to really look at him and noticed the bags that resided under his eyes and the grimace his mouth was formed into. His appearance had somehow changed dramatically overnight, and I did not want to think about why that was.

"He's right, it is my fault."

I shook my head in denial, "It's not, you know it isn't. It's mine. You tried to warn me."

The side of his mouth barely twitched into a smile, "You actually listened to my voicemail?"

I stopped myself from answering him. I couldn't get into this or else I would end up right back to where I started.

"I should go," I began to head towards the exit, barely being able to pass him before he gently grabbed my wrist and stopped me.

"Don't leave," he said.

His breath tickled my neck, making me feel weak at the knees. I couldn't open my mouth because I was afraid I would say something stupid, that I would say too much and reveal how much I actually wanted to stay.

He took a step closer and grazed his fingers over my cheekbone, gently making his way along my jaw. His fingers finally stopped on the cut on my lip.

It took everything inside of me to resist the urge to kiss him.

"Are you in a lot of pain?" he asked.

My head shook from side to side and I began to feel sick when his question made me think of something else entirely.

"You attacked him, didn't you?" I met his eyes and his hand suddenly froze on my chin.

He stayed quiet, but that was all the answer I needed to confirm what I already knew.

"I thought so," I said, beginning to walk again when his hand fell to his side. He followed closely behind me, "I'll stay out of your way from now on."

He beat me to the door and guarded it, stopping me in my tracks, "Melody, just listen-,"

"I'm done listening to you," I tried to sound angry even though I wanted to hear what he had to say. If hurting him was what it takes to get him to leave me alone then so be it, "I'm done with everything that has to do with you. I just want to get out of here and forget you exist so I can move on with my life."

He looked straight at me with a blank expression on his face and I glared right back at him. Even though everything I told him was a lie he believed it was true.

"Ok," he muttered, "I'll leave you alone."

When he stepped away from the door his face suddenly fell and my heart clenched at the sight of him. I held back the tears as I began to leave.

"Goodbye Melody."

I ignored his goodbye and headed out into the rain. I pulled the hood over my head as I made my way over to Connor's car. Without speaking, I got into the passenger's seat and threw my bag into the back seat. I glanced at his house and saw his face one last time before we pulled away.

_Goodbye Brady._

**Hope you all liked it! And if you did then please review! I love to hear feedback from those who read my stories! :)**


	31. 29 Gravity

**Sorry guys I took the chapter down because I wanted to edit it a bit...**

**So I updated in only a little over a week. I feel like I really need to finish this story for myself even though I might have lost many readers over my long absence. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I have been trying to write it with whatever free time I have and I am hoping to start the next chapter as soon as possible. **

**I hope I can gain more readers for this story and regain some of the old ones :)**

**Anyways, read on! and please review or add this story at the end of the chapter!**

Song for this Chapter- Youth by Daughter

Chapter 29

Gravity

Going to school after my encounter with Brady was almost as difficult as the day I came back to school after my brother's death. People stared at my permanently bloodshot eyes and the bruises that resided underneath them. They whispered and talked on and on about Brady and me. They were all probably anticipating the day that we would break up because they knew it wouldn't last. I guess I should've known that too.

The only good part about going back to school was that Brady wasn't there. I had almost forgotten that he had gotten suspended until I arrived at my physics class that first morning. Not having him there made it a little easier to deal with all of the pain. Even though I felt like I had been ripped to shreds I was able to walk through the hallways without having to worry about potentially seeing him.

The rest of the week was filled with whispering and staring, and the only thing I could do was keep my emotions bottled up inside of me to keep myself from fueling the fire. It seemed to work by the end of the week when my bruises began to turn brown and the cut on my lip was scabbed over. When I walked into school that Friday, with Connor walking by my side, people seemed to forget about the latest gossip. I was able to take a breather that day.

Over the weekend, Connor and I drove down to Seattle. He told me I needed to get away from La Push and forget about all the crap in my life. The worst part of it all was that I believed I could do just that. Turns out, all I could think about was Brady. I thought about the time we came to the park, when he tried to earn my trust. That was the day I felt like my life was going to change completely. Who would have thought that I would've ended up here.

It was Monday again, and there was only two more weeks left until summer vacation. I didn't know how to feel about that fact. Summer had never been exciting for me in the past. Usually I would lock myself in the room half the time to try and avoid getting hurt. This summer would be entirely different. I had no idea what it would hold.

As I walked to my locker with Connor I tried not to make any eye contact with anyone I passed. Some people still stared at me as I walked, and I acted as if I was oblivious to it like I had the previous week.

"How do you think finals will be next week?" Connor leaned up against the locker next to mine while I put in my combination.

I shrugged, "I know physics is going to suck, but other than that I think I'll be ok."

"Do you want to go to the library in Port Angeles sometime? We can spend the whole day down there," a huge smile lit up his features and even though I wasn't really in the mood for smiling I faked one just to make him feel better.

Connor had been trying so hard to find ways to cheer me up and keep my mind off of you know who. I was grateful for it, even though it didn't really help much.

"Sounds good to me," I lied.

I hid my face behind my hair as I pulled out my last book, trying to conceal my face from all of my judgmental peers. I closed my locker door and began to head in the direction of Connor's locker so he could get his own books. As soon as I looked up I halted to a stop, nearly falling over when Connor ran right into me.

I felt my heart begin to palpitate inside of me, and I lost my breath from what was right in front of me.

"What are you stopping for?" he looked at me like I had three heads.

I couldn't take my eyes off of him, and every time he would make the slightest movement I felt my body quiver even more. He didn't stand there alone, though, not like I had expected him to. He was standing there with a girl, talking to her, making her smile.

I felt my eyes begin to water, and I wiped them dry before they could embarrass me.

"What's wrong?" Connor grumbled, not even seeing what I was seeing. I didn't want to talk about it, I didn't even want to consider the impossible idea that it was real.

I quickly began to walk again, "Sorry I thought I might have forgotten something."

He still had that confused look on his face, not having the slightest clue as to what I saw. His locker was fairly close to Brady's, but he still didn't even notice him standing over there.

I kept my back to Brady, only glancing over my shoulder one time to catch a glimpse of the girl. Her name was Cassie Mitchell. She was a senior and extremely beautiful, not to mention one of the most popular girls in this school.

She was the perfect girl for someone like him.

"Great," Connor clenched his jaw and stared at the one person I was trying very hard _not_ to look at. I looked down at the ground and tried to sort through everything I had just witnessed.

It felt like I was becoming smaller and smaller the more Connor analyzed Brady, and the longer I stood there the more nauseous I felt. A knife began to cut through me and one twist of the blade was all it took for the pain to appear. Thoughts of him and Cassie together flitted through my mind and I suddenly felt like I had lost him completely, like I no longer mattered to him.

This is what I wanted for him, I had to remind myself of that. The whole reason why I broke up with him was so that he could move onto someone better, and Cassie Mitchell was clearly a lot better than me. I guess I just expected it to take him longer to do it.

I didn't speak or wait for Connor to finish ogling them as I turned around and walked in the direction of my physics class. When I passed them I couldn't help but notice that she was running her hands through his hair over and over again, as if she had already claimed him. They both looked straight at me when I was in their line of vision, and I tried to keep my composure as I walked.

As if seeing him at all wasn't bad enough. Seeing him with someone else was ten thousand times worse, and there was no one I could blame for it but myself.

* * *

I sat at my lunch table, looking across the cafeteria at him. He stared blankly at his food while Cassie was chatting happily beside him. I realized after five minutes of him sitting there with her alone that Seth and Collin were nowhere to be found. I looked at the lunch line and saw Connor putting various things onto his tray.

I took a deep breath before I looked over at his table again.

This time I caught him looking at me, and I felt like getting up and walking over to him as soon as we made eye contact. Even though Cassie seemed to be happy, Brady seemed miserable. He looked like a mess, his hair was unkempt, a small amount of stubble peppered his face, and black shadows hung underneath his eyes.

I looked away and shook my head at myself. That didn't mean anything, though. There were so many reasons why he could look like that. He could be exhausted or just sick, I wasn't about to fool myself into believing that I had anything to do with it.

Connor sat in the seat across from me and surveyed my face. I played around with my food, not exactly feeling hungry at the moment. All I wanted to do was run away from this place, away from these feelings that made me feel so sick.

Connor's hand was suddenly covering mine on top of the table. I looked up at him, my vision blurred from the tears.

"Are you ok?" he asked quietly.

I didn't talk, because I didn't want to admit the truth. And the truth was that I felt anything but ok right now. It was wrong to feel like that though, because I had specifically told him to do exactly what he is doing. I guess I didn't think about the effect it would have on me.

"Want me to beat him up?"

I chuckled, trying to tell myself that I needed to stay calm, "Don't be stupid, it will only make things worse."

He smiled at me and held out one of his napkins for me to take, "Alright fine, but the offers on the table."

I grabbed it and wiped my nose as gracefully as possible, "Thanks but no thanks."

"Ok," he shrugged, "I don't have any problem with it though."

I grinned at him, "I'm sure you don't."

I made small talk with Connor for the rest of lunch and did my best to keep my eyes focused on what was in front of me and not on who was behind me. The rest of the day had been filled with me trying to avoid Brady at all costs, but it failed miserably once I reached history class.

He sat at the desk next to mine, which was how it had been all year. I just thought he would have enough sense in him to move somewhere else. I would've loved to have tried to force someone to leave their seat, the only bad thing was that I wasn't considered to be a very intimidating person. They probably would've laughed at me if I tried.

So, I had no choice but to sit next to him. I felt his gaze boring into my skin as I walked to my desk, and I fidgeted uncomfortably the minute my butt hit the chair. My heart was hammering inside of my chest, and my cheeks were red throughout the whole class because of how blatant it was that he was staring at me. He didn't even seem to be trying to hide it.

I twiddled my thumbs and wrote pointless things in my notebook, trying my best to act as if I didn't care about what he was doing. By the end of class it became unbearable to sit there, and for the last fifteen minutes all I did was silently countdown the seconds until the bell rang. It felt like hours before it finally did, and I stood up so fast that I accidentally made my books fall to the floor.

I reached down and tried to collect them as quickly as possible. When I finally got a hold of the last one I stuffed it into my backpack, raising my head only to see Brady holding my pen right in front of my face.

"Thanks," I said softly, standing up straight and tucking my hair behind my ear. My eyes grazed over him once before I turned around and ran out of the room.

On Tuesday I had tortured myself by staring at him and Cassie at his locker the whole morning. Connor tried to talk to me and keep me focused, but after a while I stopped paying attention to him altogether. I couldn't concentrate on anything anymore. Every thought I had about anything but Brady somehow ended up making its way back to something about Brady.

On Wednesday during lunch Seth had tried to come up and talk to me. Of course it was about _him_, what else could it have been about?

I tuned him out as soon as he began speaking, staring down at my food and thinking about something else. When he tried to get me to respond I didn't say anything. I ignored him as if he didn't exist, because it was easier to act as if everything and anything that had to do with Brady didn't exist than it was to embrace the fact that he was real. He was real and everything that had happened to us was real.

Thursday night I saw him outside of Connor's house through the living room window. He was in his wolf form and his eyes were fixated right on me. Needless to say, I couldn't stay in there after I saw that. I attempted to go upstairs and study for finals with Connor, but that failed the moment I heard him howling outside. After that, all I could concentrate on were the memories that one howl brought on. Every moment that I had spent with him when he was a wolf played inside my head. All of those times I had talked to him about my life at home, the time I thought I had gotten him killed. It all came back to me that night, and the thoughts didn't allow me to sleep.

Friday was the worst day of the week. I was forced to be paired up with Brady in physics for an extra credit activity on gravity for the whole class period. Everyone starting laughing the minute Mr. Snyder announced the horrifying news. It was hard to even say two words to him. Even though the activity had nothing to do with us and everything to do with how gravity works, all I could think about was the thing Brady had said to me about imprinting that one day.

_It's this thing where you see her and everything shifts so that the only thing keeping you firmly on the ground is that girl. Everything you have ever done or will ever do changes, and she becomes the center of your whole world._

When Brady tried talking to me about gravity all I could hear was him saying that to me. I was the only thing that kept him on the ground, I was his gravity. Without me everything is off balance, floating around aimlessly.

It gave me a lot to think about for the rest of the day, that's for sure. Once school was finally over I was thankful for the weekend for the first time in my entire life. I would be able to breathe again in air that wasn't tainted by Brady or my father.

Even though finals were only a couple of days away Connor and I decided not to study and go see a movie in Port Angeles together. I was expecting to be zoned out the whole time, but it was surprisingly fun. We stuffed our faces with popcorn and tried to hold back our laughter in the theatre. Everyone kept looking at us like we were nuts. I guess laughing during a horror movie wasn't acceptable. Who knew?

After the movie, we went back to his house and pulled out all of his photography scrapbooks, putting some new pictures in and commenting on some of the old ones. It was the first time I had actually felt happy in the past two weeks.

When it was finally Saturday we both hit the books. We went to the library at around eleven that morning and it was about, I checked the clock, two right now. I was ready to throw this damn physics book out the window. There was way too much that we needed to know for this final.

I slammed the book shut and decided to move onto algebra. When I grabbed my book and my notebook I started to do some of the practice problems given to us in class. I was starting the tenth question when my phone rang in my pocket.

I grabbed it and looked at the screen, not recognizing the number.

"I'll be right back," I whispered to Connor.

He nodded without looking up, and I quietly walked out of the library.

I stood on the sidewalk and answered the call, "Hello?"

"Melody? It's Kim."

I didn't say anything back for a few moments, trying to fully process what was actually happening. Jared's wife was on the phone with me…I had no idea what she wanted. I was hoping it would be about anything but Brady, I really just wanted to stay in this happy mood.

"Hi Kim," I said wearily.

"I hope I'm not bothering you or anything."

"No, you're not. What's up?" I started pacing back and forth.

"I know this is short notice and all but would you possibly want to come over to Emily's house later tonight?"

I nearly tripped over my own two feet when I understood what this could possibly mean.

"I don't know," I chewed on my lip, beginning to contemplate her offer.

"It's just going to be us girls, no guys whatsoever."

Even though what she said made me feel better the whole idea seemed a bit off. These were Brady's friends, people who I always associated with him and they wanted me to hang out with them. I didn't know whether I should accept her kindness or be cautious of it.

It could be a trap. They might just want to interrogate me about breaking up with Brady. Since Seth failed it's time for them to step in.

But what if it wasn't? What if I was being too critical of the whole situation and their intentions were nothing but good? Maybe I shouldn't jump to conclusions right away.

"What time should I be there?"

"Everyone's going to get there at around seven," I could tell by the tone of her voice that she was smiling. I was still wary about the whole thing.

"Ok, I guess I'll see you there," I said.

"See you!" She sounded way too excited to me and I found myself wondering why I agreed to go before I could _really_ think about it. I hung up the phone without waiting for her to say goodbye.

I guess the idea of being invited to hang out was appealing to me since the only person I really ever do anything with is Connor. But the fact that they were associated with Brady was what kept the knot tied in my stomach.

I sighed and shook my head as I began to head back into the library, "What have I gotten myself into?"

* * *

As soon as I pulled my truck up into Sam and Emily's driveway I was hit by the thoughts of the last time I was here, the time when Brady had told me about…everything.

I could see that the lights in the living room were on, and by the looks of it I was the last to arrive. I looked into the mirror for a minute to make sure that I looked presentable. My hair was up in a ponytail since I figured it would make me look a bit livelier. The bags under my eyes almost matched my skin tone and my eyes were not nearly as bloodshot as they had been before. Good, then the seven layers of cover up had done its job. At least I won't have to worry about them commenting on my appearance.

I took a glimpse at the rest of myself and nodded in approval at the simple pair of jeans and flannel shirt I had chosen to put on. This was good enough right?

Before I could answer my own question I stepped out of the car and began to walk towards the house. I felt my heart begin to beat against my ribcage fiercer than it had been before. Even though I was freaking out about the whole thing I immediately knocked as soon as I was on the porch.

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and pulled it out to see who it was.

**Call me if anything happens, **Connor texted me.

I rolled my eyes and replied quickly, **I'll be fine. **

Connor seemed to be more worried about this than I was if it was even possible.

The door swung open before I could prepare myself and I was pulled into a hug before I could even say hello.

"It's so good to see you Melody," Emily said softly.

When she pulled away I smiled at her, "I hope I'm not late."

She chuckled, "You haven't missed much. Kim attempted to help me make muffins, but it took a turn for the worse when hers came out black and hard as a rock."

"Hey! I followed the directions step by step! It wasn't my fault!"

Emily rolled her eyes and waved me inside. I stepped into the house and took in my surroundings, trying to keep all of the memories at bay as I walked through the living room and into the kitchen. Kim, Sammy, and Dana were all sitting around the table, laughing with each other. The air smelled like freshly baked goods mixed in with a burnt sort of scent.

"Here take a seat," Emily pulled out a chair for me and I sat at the table next to Sammy. I kept a smile on my face as I sat there. Even though I felt a bit awkward as I sat there I tried to become engaged in their conversation.

"You're not allowed to touch any cooking utensils ever again! It's a completely unnecessary way to waste good food," CJ sat on Sammy's lap, eating one of the blueberry muffins that was sitting in the middle of the table.

"Help yourself Melody," Emily pointed to the muffins and I grabbed one even though I wasn't hungry at all. I said a quick thank you before I listened in on the conversation again.

"Ok maybe I do suck at cooking but none of you are that great either! Except for Emily of course," Kim said.

"Thanks Kim," Emily laughed as she moved around the kitchen, checking the oven and mixing things in a bowl with Dana's help.

"What about Melody? You don't even know if she can cook or not," Sammy looked at me.

My breath hitched and I tried to process what she had said, "What?"

They all began to laugh, "Can you cook?" Sammy asked.

I shrugged and looked down at my hands before I peered up at them again, "I guess I'm decent. I don't do it that often though."

"Then now's the perfect time for you to put your skills to the test."

My eyes widened, "You want me to cook something right now?"

"Why not? We have everything you need to make some delicious, or not so delicious, muffins," Kim smiled at me.

"Come on you can't be worse than Kim," Dana glanced at me over her shoulder as she poured batter into the muffin tin on the counter.

I took one small nibble of the muffin that was on my plate as I contemplated in my head.

All of them could see that I was hesitating to do it. They were probably analyzing my every move.

"Here," Emily came over to me and handed me a whisk after the silence started to become a bit awkward, "I'll help you get started."

I rose from my seat and looked at both Kim and Sammy before I went over to the counter to start baking. Emily started to explain to me what to do and I listened intently to her every word. After a couple minutes of instructions I threw away all of my doubts and fears about this night and allowed myself to have fun.

I measured all of my ingredients carefully as Sammy and Kim took bets on how I was going to do from behind me. Emily checked on me every now and then to see how I was progressing and before I knew it I was whisking all of the ingredients together. I made sure to crack the eggs into the mixture one by one, and when the batter seemed perfect to me I added the exact amount of blueberries that the recipe had called for.

"You seem to be a natural in the kitchen," Emily commented.

I grinned, "I guess that's a good sign, right?"

She nodded and placed my first batch into the oven once I had finished pouring it into the muffin tin. I decided to make another batch with chocolate chips inside of them instead just to show what I could do.

The girls sat at the table eagerly awaiting what was hopefully going to be the perfect batch of muffins. I watched them carefully while they baked and took them out when the tops had risen and they were a golden brown color.

I carefully arranged them all on a plate before putting my chocolate chip ones into the oven.

"Ok," I placed the plate onto the table, "Tell me what you think."

They grabbed the muffins and quickly took a bite out of them. I bounced on my heels in anticipation. When all of their faces looked up at me in unison I tried not to lose my cool.

"Well?" I asked.

For a minute they all stayed silent, and then finally, "Ten out of ten!"

"No, eleven out of ten!" Sammy smiled at me, "Kim give me the cash," she took another bite of the muffin as she held her hand out to Kim.

"This isn't fair! You can't just say you won because you though they were good. Someone else has to be the judge. Emily? What do you think?"

I looked to Emily to try and read the expression on her face. Unfortunately, she had a pretty good poker face.

"I think they're amazing," Emily fed a bit to CJ, "almost better than mine."

"I doubt that," I commented.

"At least yours didn't turn out to be muffin soup," Sammy snickered.

"That wasn't my fault," Dana defended, "that oven just hates me."

We all began to laugh and converse with each other for what seemed like hours. I had completely let go and opened myself up to them, and I felt stupid for ever considering declining Kim's invitation.

Eventually we brought our muffins into the living room and sat around chatting with each other about almost everything. They asked me if I had any plans for the summer and discussed what theirs were and I sat back feeling completely comfortable.

That is until they started talking about the people I really didn't want to even think about right now.

"Do you think there's any chance of Embry proposing this summer?" Dana asked out of the blue.

"Well maybe if you guys would actually talk once and a while instead of sucking face as soon as you see each other," Sammy smirked at her, "I doubt you even say hello."

"We do _not_ do that all the time," Dana threw a pillow at her head but Sammy dodged it before it could hit her, "At least I don't stare into his eyes for hours on end like you do whenever Paul's around."

"Bullshit, I've never done that," I tuned out of the conversation after that. If this was where things were going then I didn't want any part of it. I'd rather avoid these sorts of things that forced me to think about him.

"I have to go to the bathroom," I mumbled, wanting to do anything to get away from them.

They all fell silent after I said that, and I could feel their eyes on my back the whole time I walked out of the room. I stayed in the bathroom for a few minutes so I could stop the painful thoughts from breaking through the barricade I had locked them in when I got here.

I splashed cold water onto my face and my neck, telling my heart to slow down and my eyes to stay dry. Once I had calmed down enough to the point where I felt like I could face them again, I washed my hands and went back to the living room. Just as before, their eyes were staring me down and I sat back in my place as if nothing was wrong.

When the conversation didn't start again I knew what I had feared would happen was about to happen. I rested my head back against the couch and stared up at the ceiling, waiting for them to begin their interrogation.

There goes my fun.

"Melody," Emily started and my eyes went to her. The smile she had been wearing before had now turned into a grimace, her lips tugging on the scars that covered the right side of her face.

"I don't want to talk about it," I muttered.

"Fine, you don't have to," she came over to the couch and sat next to me while Kim moved somewhere else, "Just listen," I felt her hand cover mine in a comforting sort of way, "I don't know exactly what happened between the two of you. The only thing I can really tell you is that we've all gone through what you're going through."

A realization hit me that I should've been able to catch before. They had all been imprinted on just as I had. I scanned each of their faces that were set on me, knowing that they had been dragged into this supernatural world of wolves and magical forces like I had, and they all accepted it too.

"Brady hasn't been the same since you two talked last," she sighed, "He won't speak to anyone anymore and it's starting to worry all of us."

"You don't know that that has anything to do with me," I crossed my arms over my chest and pursed my lips, "He seemed fine to me when I saw him in school, talking to Cassie Mitchell like I never even existed."

All of the girls exchanged a worried glance with each other.

"He hasn't been talking to anyone Melody," Sammy said.

A callous laugh escaped my lips, "How can I believe you? How do I know that he's not behind this? Maybe you guys can accept this imprinting crap but I can't. It's not fair."

"For who? Brady?" her eyes narrowed at me, "He's miserable without you. No one can get through to him, it's like he's in some sort of trance. Seth's tried to talk to him and he just stares blankly into space. His mom's called Sam furiously asking what he's done to her son. She thinks its Sam's fault that he stays locked in his room all night. And the whole Cassie thing? It's not true."

I sat up straight and furrowed my brows, "I saw it with my own eyes."

She shook her head and sighed, "Cassie's the one that's all over him, she's always had a thing for Brady. From what Seth and Collin have told me Brady doesn't even pay attention to her. She just hangs around him constantly to make you jealous."

I rolled my eyes and stood up, ready to get away, "I don't need this."

Emily grabbed my arm as soon as I tried to make a break for the door, "He loves you Melody, more than anything. He just wants you to be happy, and I can tell that you're not."

I shook her hand off of me, "And all I want is for him to have someone he deserves," I felt my eyes start to dampen and I cursed at their bad timing, "I don't want him to be forced to be with me. It's not fair to him if I take away his choice to love whoever he wants."

"He would choose you no matter what Melody," Emily stood up and pulled me into a tight hug that I hadn't expected, "Imprinting didn't force him to be your soul mate. You two were meant to be together since the day you were born. It was only a push in the right direction."

I hugged her back despite how horribly I felt at the moment, "I'm so wrong for him."

"No, you're not," she kissed me on my cheek and pulled away, smiling at me, "You're perfect for him, and right now it's showing how much you two can't stay away from each other. It's only causing you both more pain."

I still felt unsure about all of it. It was hard to know what the right thing to do was. Even though I wanted to believe her there was still a part of me that said if I waited long enough this would pass and he would get over me. He would move on, and then I would move on.

"He's cut himself off from the world, and I can see that you're not coping too well yourself."

I shook my head in denial, "I'm fine, ok? I've been through way worse than this."

They became quiet as soon as the words left my mouth. I tried to get rid of the tension I felt all over my body by rubbing the back of my neck with my hand. It didn't seem to help much at all though. I waited for them to say more, but they bowed their heads and stayed silent the longer I stood there for.

"He's always tried to protect you, even when you didn't know what he was, he's always looked out for you," Sammy said after a beat.

I clenched my jaw, "I know he has, he's done everything for me and I don't deserve it."

Emily sighed, and put both of her hands on either of my shoulders, practically forcing me to sit down with her.

"Brady would die for you if it meant that you were safe. He's said a million times that he would take your place in a heartbeat. If he didn't actually love you do you think he would say all of these things?"

Her words hit me hard, and they made me think of Noah. He was always protecting me, trying to save me from being hurt. He did it because he loved me, and Brady has done the same thing for me since the day I met him. Could I really think of all he's done for me as something that he was forced to do? Or something that he had done out of pure love for me?

I didn't know if I could answer that.

"You're soul mates."

That was the one statement that has been haunting me ever since I broke up with Brady. I haven't been able to get the words out of my head. It was always a reminder of what I was giving up by letting go of Brady, and after tonight I knew that I needed to thoroughly think through everything that I had just heard. I needed to come up with an answer to one question.

Was I really willing to let go of my soul mate?

**I'm hoping everyone liked this even though it might have seemed like sort of a filler chapter.**

**I promise that if you stick around you will thoroughly enjoy the next chapter. I have lots of ideas for it in my head and it is sure going to be full of lots of interesting things haha.**

**Well thank you for reading! And please if you have the time then review or at least at this story to your alerts! I promise I will not disappoint you! :)**

**~KK**


	32. 30 Claim Me

**Ok so I just feel like I need to say right now that I hate flies. There have been about three in my house tonight and now there is currently one stuck in my room that I am trying to either kill or force out of my room because I don't want it in here when I go to sleep. UGH!**

**Alright so let's focus on this story...**

**thank you to those of you who favorited/alerted/reviewed the last chapter! I am so glad to see some new people reading this story! :) And I see lots of other readers on here that have read this story since the beginning. **

**Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon...my schedule for school this week is a little bit hectic plus I have the worst sore throat in the history of sore throats right now so everything is ten times harder right now (such as going to school)**

**I am pleased to say that this story is about to get a lot more interesting...and I will leave it at that :)**

**Please if you have the time listen to the song I posted it seemed kind of perfect for this story...**

Song for this Chapter- Green Eyes by Coldplay

Chapter 30

Claim Me

Finishing my last final of the school year caused a weight to lift off of me. Even though there was so many things weighing me down I felt better knowing that I didn't have to see these people for almost three whole months.

I quickly cleaned out my locker, throwing away various things that now meant nothing to me. The only things I did keep were the pictures of me and my brother I had taped up on the first day of school. I stashed them away in my backpack and headed for the parking lot, seeing no sign of Brady. I was glad that I hadn't seen him all day. It gave me more time to think and try to process everything the girls had told me about him last weekend.

After our conversation I started observing Brady's behavior carefully in the halls. He looked as if someone had sucked the life out of him, and each day it seemed to only get worse. His appearance started affecting me soon after that. I stayed up most of the night that week worrying about him, wondering if what I was doing was the right thing. Every day when I saw his face I felt like I wasn't.

I walked towards Connor car, seeing that he was already waiting for me.

"How was your last final?" he asked, grinning from ear to ear.

I shrugged, "Not as bad as I thought it would be."

"Want to celebrate the start of summer with me?"

I laughed, "What did you have in mind?"

Before he could answer a fierce growl caught my attention. I looked in the direction of the sound, noticing Brady with his hands formed into fists, towering over Cassie.

"Just leave me the fuck alone!" he screamed at her, which caused everyone else in the parking lot to turn their attention on them.

Every other time Brady had ever lost control Seth and Collin had stepped in to try and calm him down. This time they just stood there, looking about as stunned as everyone around them.

"You mean _nothing _to me! You never have and you never will! So get the fuck out of my life!"

I couldn't see Cassie's face from here, but I knew that she was probably scared out of her mind. I started to walk in their direction instinctively when I saw Brady shaking furiously. Connor caught my arm before I could take another step.

"I don't think that's a good idea," he said.

I decided that he was right and I settled in place, watching the scene unfold even further. Collin had said something to Brady that made him back off a bit, and my heart nearly stopped beating when he looked at me.

He stared for only a second or two before he turned in the other direction and headed towards the woods with Collin following closely behind. Cassie was sobbing while Seth was awkwardly trying to console her.

"We should go," Connor said.

I blinked a few times and looked back at him, "Yeah," I cleared my throat, "Let's go."

We ended up going to the diner that Brady and I always used to go to together. I was able to keep my spirits up while we were there and I tried my best to have a good time. I didn't want to disappoint Connor anymore than I already had, so I engaged myself completely in the conversation. The whole time Connor and I just tried to plan out what we would do over the summer together.

"You know what I really want to do?"

I took a sip of my milkshake, "What?"

He popped a fry into his mouth, "I want to get out of Washington, go to California and take some shots of the Hollywood sign," he raised his eyebrows and smiled at me, "I think we should take a road trip."

"Yeah, well maybe if I had the money. I don't make that much from my job and it's not like I can ask my parents for any."

"We need to do something spontaneous this summer though," he looked as if he had just come up with the best idea he's ever had before, "something that we'll remember forever."

I nodded in agreement even though I knew the chances of that happening to me were slim to none. Even though I was still on a bit of a high from finishing finals I didn't really feel as enthusiastic about the idea as he did. It was hard to think straight when there was so much else on my mind.

Just as Connor was about to speak again my phone rang on top of the table. I stopped eating my salad and looked at the caller ID, almost dropping the phone when I saw who it was.

"Who is it?"

I slid the phone over to him and let him look because I couldn't quite fathom that she was calling me right now. She never called, ever. Not unless I had done something wrong.

I let the phone go to voicemail, hoping that it wouldn't start ringing again. To my extreme discomfort it started chiming all over again.

"What could she possibly want?" Connor looked worried, his happiness completely gone now.

"I don't know," I took a deep breath, trying to keep myself calm.

I decided to rip the band aid off and opened my phone. I found it hard to even say one word to her.

"Hello?" I tried to keep my tone even despite how much I wanted to spit the word out like it was poison in my mouth.

"Melody I need you to come home right now," my mother sounded as if she was a bit worried. It was odd to say the least. She has never called me before to tell me about something that was worrying her. It wasn't in her nature.

"What? Why?" I let the anger roll off my tongue.

"Just come home," she demanded.

I let out a deep breath through my nose, furrowing my eyebrows and looking to Connor. He was mouthing something to me that I couldn't quite understand. My foot tapped nervously on the ground, and I tried to restrain myself from screaming at her over the phone, but then I thought about it for a minute. She wouldn't have called unless it was something really _really_ important. I needed to figure out what was wrong.

"Ok," I mumbled, "I'll be there in about twenty minutes."

I hung up the phone quickly and slumped back into the booth, rubbing my palm over my face to try and calm my nerves.

"What did she say?" I peeked through my fingers at Connor, knowing that our meal was going to have to be cut short.

I searched through my backpack and found some money so I could pay for my food. When I got out the cash I decided to answer him.

"She wants me to come home," I slung my backpack over my shoulder and got up, not giving any of it a second thought.

"So you're just going to listen to her? What if _he's_ there?"

"He won't be," I walked to the front and went to the register, handing the lady behind the counter my money.

"How can you be so sure?" he rummaged through his own bag to find some cash.

I paused for a minute to try and figure out how I would answer him. I didn't actually know whether or not he would be there, I just didn't want Connor to get stuck in the middle of anything that could possibly happen. So, I had to come up with some lie to get him to stay home.

"She told me that he was out," I faced him, trying to make it all sound believable even though he looked like he knew I was lying, "I don't know the details she wouldn't tell me. She just said I needed to go home and help her with something because my father wasn't home."

His eyes searched my face for any hint of a lie, "You're just going to go then?"

I nodded, "I'm sure it won't take long. I just don't want to start a fight with her. If I don't help her she'll use it against me."

"Maybe I can just go with you and stay outside in my car or something."

I laughed at that, "I don't think so. You'll just end up doing what you did when we went to Brady's house."

"Not necessarily," he held the door open for me as we headed for his car.

"Just let me do this on my own," I said.

He sighed before he got into the driver's seat while I got into the seat next to him, "I don't trust her."

I buckled my seatbelt and he turned the ignition on, "I promise I'll be fine."

He shook his head and pulled out of the parking spot, not saying a word after that. We drove to his house in mostly silence. The only thing he said to me was that I should call him if anything happened, like he had said when I went to Emily's house. I agreed with him and went quiet after that.

When we got to his house I hopped into my truck and headed for my house. I was anticipating the worst and hoping for the best as I tried to come with any reason why she would want me to go home. First of all, she was barely ever home to begin with, so that was a little bit suspicious. And second of all, she demanded that I come home as if she needed to tell me something urgently.

I felt a bed of sweat begin to form on my forehead. I couldn't tell you how agonizing it felt to be driving there. I didn't know if he would be there, ready to hurt me anyway he could. I didn't know if I would make it out without a scratch on me, everything was up in the air and it scared the hell out of me.

When I pulled up the house I took in the exterior before I did anything. It was still the same horrible place that held so many horrible things. Nothing about it was different, and I found myself gasping for air because it seemed as if became harder to breathe.

Going up to the door was like an out of body experience. I felt like I was floating above my own body, just watching myself head further and further into hell.

When she opened the door I didn't react to her. She stared at my face with a blank look in her eyes and motioned for me to come inside. I walked into the house, holding my breath when I looked into the living room. He wasn't sitting in his usual spot, and I didn't hear any sort of movement coming from upstairs.

I sighed in relief and followed her into the kitchen, not exactly knowing what would happen next. She pulled out a chair for me and I stood there for a moment, trying to fathom the fact that we were going to sit down in the kitchen together. It was something that hadn't happened for as long as I could remember.

She passed me a glass of ice water that was sitting on the table and took her own glass, drinking out of it immediately. When her gaze went to me I tried not to look back at her, fearing that she would scold me for it.

"Melody," she exhaled slowly, her ponytail swaying as she shook her head, "I need to talk to you about something."

I had to restrain myself from getting up and walking out of the room when she said that. She wanted to talk? She never wanted to talk to me before, and it felt so strange to be sitting here hearing those words come out of her mouth.

She didn't wait for me to reply before she continued, "Your father and I are getting a divorce."

When I was finally able to process what she had just said to me I felt like laughing. It wasn't the time to laugh, especially not when she said something like that, but I just found it funny that she picked now out of all times to tell me this.

From the day they started screaming at each other I knew this day would come. I had always been prepared for it, because Noah told me to be prepared. For it to happen this day, when so many other things were wrong in my life, was comical in a way. What else could possibly go wrong?

"I've been seeing someone else," she said slowly.

_That_ is exactly what else could go wrong.

I grabbed the glass of water set in front of me, taking a sip as I tried to absorb her words. This time it came as a bit of a shock to me. I didn't think that that would be the reason why they got a divorce, but I guess it really explained a lot.

"Melody?" she placed her hand on my arm and I froze, bringing my eyes up to hers for the first time, "Honey, I'm sorry."

I narrowed my eyes and felt the anger begin to boil beneath my skin. _Honey_, she said it as if she cared about me. That one term of endearment was what set me off.

"You're sorry?!" I exclaimed, ripping my arm away from her, "That's great coming from you after all these years."

"What is that supposed to mean?" she looked confused, as if she didn't understand where all of this was coming from. I was ready to finally tell her about everything she's put me through.

"You abandoned me, and you abandoned Noah. You never cared about us and all of a sudden you're talking to me as if I should care about you? About the fact that you're getting a divorce from dad because you're _cheating_ on him?!" I pushed myself away from the table and stood up, "I could never forgive you for what you've done to us!"

Instead of her looking mad like I thought she would she looked as if she were about to cry. It made me want to slap her right across the face. I didn't expect her to act like this, like she was actually hurt by my words but I didn't really care if she was. Maybe it was because she was going to be free from this place, from this family I don't know. I just couldn't keep the truth bottled up any longer.

"You left us in this house with that _monster_!"

She seemed taken aback by what I just said, "What are you talking about?"

I chuckled at her, knowing that she would play dumb. I rolled up my sleeve and slammed my arm onto the table, ripping off the gauze and showing her the stitches. She shut her mouth tight and placed her hand over her lips. I watched as her face fell and tears sprung from her eyes.

She had some nerve to cry in front of me.

"_He_ did this to me with only a shard of glass! That asshole you're divorcing! He did it while you weren't around and Noah killed himself because of what he's done to us both in the past!"

She sobbed and sobbed and I didn't feel any trace of sympathy inside of me for her, "I didn't know-,"

"Yeah, you didn't know, because you were never around to witness it. Why didn't you ever come home? Was it because of this guy?"

She shook her head as she kept crying, "I love him."

My face turned red when she said that, "What about me? Do you even love me?"

She peered up at me, staring at my face for a long time without saying anything.

I restrained myself from screaming at her even more. Her hesitation was what blew it for me. It made everything I had ever hoped for disappear. I had always hoped that she would say she loved me once, only once. And even now when she was in tears and I was spilling out the truth to her she wouldn't say it.

"You're not my mother," I spat it at her before I walked through the living room and out of the house, wanting my words to sit with her for a long time.

* * *

I decided against calling Connor after everything that had happened. I wanted to be alone for the night.

I drove to the beach and parked my car in the parking lot, walking into the sand and immediately letting it seep in between my toes. I sat down and watched the sunset in front of me, trying to keep my mind free of thought until it was completely hidden behind the ocean. I let the sight of it soothe me and tried to calm down by taking a few deep breaths.

It was hard not to think every horrible thing possible about my mother right then. She had been so hypocritical and I didn't know where the sudden kindness for me had come from. I had to admit though; the pieces of the puzzle finally began to fit.

She was never home because she was off with some secret lover of hers. She would rather spend time with him than her own children. I guess that maybe if she didn't hate our father then she wouldn't hate us. If things were different then maybe we could have been a happy family.

I tried to picture what life would have been like if she had been around. Dad might not have started to hurt us, or if he did then maybe she would have divorced him sooner rather than later. We could've gone off to live on our own, just the three of us. We could have been happy together. Noah would probably still be alive today.

If life was perfect than none of this would have happened to me, but unfortunately life is the exact opposite of perfect. Life throws curve balls at you left and right and there's no way you could ever be ready for it.

I laid down until it was dark, watching as the stars tried to peek through the clouds. I started to fear what could happen now that I told her the truth about my father. If she said anything to him then I'm dead. He's told me all my life to keep all of the beatings to myself, threatening to kill me if I ever did. To this day I had done just that. Now that the cat was out of the bag I was scared for my life.

It didn't take long for rain to start falling from those distant clouds. I stayed where I was and let the drops dampen my clothes. A slight chill was in the air and it made me shiver after a while, but I wasn't ready to move. I didn't have much of a choice when it started to downpour though. I sprinted to my truck and slammed the door shut when I was inside, bringing my knees in close to my chest to try and warm myself up with my own body heat. It didn't seem to work too well for me.

Even though I had every reason to go back to Connor's house I stayed parked in the beach's parking lot. I went to grab my phone out of my pocket to text Connor, but became frantic when I realized it wasn't there. I searched my jean pockets, front and back, and even between the seats of my truck. When I came up with nothing I buried my face in my hands and groaned. Great, I probably dropped it when I stormed out of the house earlier.

I definitely was not about to go and get it now, not when she was still there. Although Connor would probably freak out I decided to stay put. In the morning I'll have to go and get my phone and then I'll go straight to his house so he doesn't worry.

I erased the thoughts of tomorrow from my mind so I wouldn't start to worry.

I rested my head up against the window and watched the rain fall, enjoying the sound it made against my windshield. I was freezing, but that meant little to me at the moment. All I could really think about was what I had just been through.

It still amazes me that she acted oblivious to everything she has done to me and my brother in the past. She said sorry to me like it would make up for the years I lived without a mother. And yeah, maybe she was trying to be sincere, maybe she wanted to move on and have a life with me and the guy she was "in love" with, but you can't erase the past. I won't feel anything for her but hate because of the past.

I kept the thoughts in my head as I tried to settle in so I could get some sleep. It had become a much harder task than I had originally thought it would be. My eyes stayed shut as I waited and waited for sleep to overcome me, and after a while I gave up on the idea.

I sighed and sat up again, nearly jumping out of my skin when I heard a knock on the window beside me. I turned my head and felt my heart race at the sight of Brady, soaking wet and staring at me through the window.

I opened the door immediately, "Are you insane? It's pouring out here!"

He didn't speak as he stared at me, his eyes finally connecting with mine. I felt like I was going to turn into mush. I guess just being so close to him after avoiding him for so long was what caused the feeling.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

He didn't seem affected by the rain at all as he kept gawking at me, "I…" he cleared his throat as if it was the first time he had spoken in a long time, "I got a feeling."

I hesitated to respond, remembering when he said that to me after he came to my house unexpectedly. It made the tips of my fingers begin to tingle a bit.

"Come in here before you drown out there," I didn't think before I spoke, but when I saw his face light up after I said it I couldn't take back my offer. I closed my door and watched him head around the front of my truck, watching his every move as he sat right next to me.

He wasn't wearing a shirt which made me feel cold just from looking at his bare chest, "Aren't you freezing?" I asked through chattering teeth.

He turned towards me, grinning for a second before he let it disappear completely, "I don't get cold," I looked at him in confusion, "it's a…a wolf sort of thing."

I nodded and looked away from him, taking in the new information that was just given to me.

"Why are you out here by yourself?" he asked quietly.

Before I thought that being alone was exactly what I needed, but right now, with him here I felt as if this was meant to be.

"It's a long story," I put my hands inside my pockets to hide the fact that they were shivering uncontrollably; "I just wanted to be alone."

He didn't question me any further, and I was extremely grateful for it. He has always been so patient with me, waiting for me to be ready instead of pushing me to say something or do something that I was uncomfortable with. That's what made Brady so unique. He was one of the very few people in this world that was so selfless and kind, always putting others before him. It was all the more reason to accept what he was and give him another chance.

"You're shivering," his voice was so soft that I almost missed what he said because I was too caught up in my own thoughts.

"I'll be alright," I said.

He reached his arm out without question and wrapped it around my waist, slowly pulling me flush up against his side. My whole body went tense for only a second before I relaxed and welcomed his warmth.

"Let me guess, your extremely warm skin is also a wolf thing?" I asked, trying my best not to reveal how much I was enjoying being so close to him after being apart for three weeks. Even though I still wasn't one hundred percent certain that I could accept imprinting he was making it harder and harder to resist.

"Yeah," he sighed and rubbed his palm up and down my arm, causing goose bumps to form over every inch of my skin.

He rested his cheek on the top of my head as if I had already given in to him. I should've told him to give me a bit of space, and I should've said that I wasn't ready to get back together with him. But I never said a single word.

"I miss you," he whispered.

I placed my hand over his and closed my eyes for a second, trying to think of what I needed to say to him before I let this go any further.

"I saw what you did today," I looked up at his face, noticing that he looked a lot more alive than he had before he got into the truck, "to Cassie. I saw you two together all week."

"She means nothing to me," he said it as if he was trying to reassure me, and I guess in a way I did feel better when I heard that.

"Did you at least try to talk to her? To see what it was like to talk to a girl that was actually normal?"

He stayed quiet for a moment and I waited patiently for his answer. After a couple of beats he placed his finger underneath my chin and forced me to look at him.

"I talked to her the first day," he clenched his jaw, "but as soon as she opened her mouth I hated her so I stopped."

I laughed and pushed his hand away from my face, "Well whatever you said made her trail behind you like a lost puppy for two weeks."

He smiled widely at me and I felt my heart stutter at the sight of it. I missed that smile of his; it never ceased to amaze me. It seemed like being here with him was how it was supposed to be, and I knew that a part of me wanted to give in to his smile and his warm skin and just say to hell with the past three weeks. And yet there was still something in the back of my mind that was telling me to wait to hear what he had to say and go from there.

"You're the only one I wanted to talk to," he said, his face getting serious again, "and you're the only girl I could see myself being with. The last two weeks have proved to me that I can't live without you."

I didn't respond to his words, and that was mostly because I was still so unsure if I could believe this was really how he felt. I still didn't know if the imprinting had a hold on him. It was so hard to be sitting here with him and not kiss him, but it was also hard to know if I would be doing the right thing if I did just that.

"Melody," he rested his cheek on the top of my head again, "I'm in love with you. The first day I saw you on those cliffs I wasn't, but I got to know you and I grew to love you. I am being completely honest with you."

"I still feel like I'm not worthy of your love though," I repeatedly traced circles over the back of his hand, "it's just so hard for me to openly say I want to be with you, because then it feels like you'll never have a chance to experience what it's like to be with someone other than me. It's like I would be claiming you as mine forever and then be forcing you to stay with me and only me."

"Claim me I don't care," he intertwined our hands, "I'll never want anyone as much as I want you."

I grinned at his words despite my uncertainty, "We're only seventeen Brady. We both have our whole lives ahead of us. And there's enough time for us to get back together in the future."

He sighed loudly and rested his head back against the seat, making it seem like he was defeated and he didn't know what else he could say to convince me that he was right. I felt so confused about the whole thing. I had the conversation from last weekend with the girls going through my head along with memories of us two together. I wanted so badly to make my decision right then and there, but it wasn't even that simple.

"We can be together right now," his breath tickled my skin, causing me to tremble, "life is too short to waste our time being with other people who don't matter. Even though you think you don't deserve to be happy you do, and I know that I make you happy."

He was right about that, I couldn't deny it.

"How did you feel when you saw me with Cassie?" he asked.

I didn't anticipate him asking me something like that, and when I thought about what my answer would be I realized that despite what he had told me before these three weeks I was in love with him. Even though I thought that being apart from him would make me get over him it didn't, it only made me long for him even more. Thinking about him constantly, feeling jealous when I saw him talking to Cassie. It was all signs of the fact that my love for him was still there.

So why was I trying to push him away? Why would I do it if he says he loves me and I love him?

"I felt like you didn't care anymore, like maybe what I had said to you sunk in and you took my advice. And even though I wanted you to talk to other girls I was jealous of her," I admitted everything to him willingly, "it made me regret what I had done, but I tried to tell myself that I had to move on so you could live your life. She's so much better for you than I am."

He began to run his fingers through my hair and I turned my head towards him so that I could see his reaction.

He half smiled at me as his eyes met mine, his gaze never straying away from mine, "You're perfect Melody."

"I'm not."

His hand made its way from my hair to my cheek, and it settled there, "To me you are."

"Brady," I whispered, turning my eyes to his lips for the slightest second.

Looking at his lips had lighted a fire inside of me that had been extinguished when I found out about imprinting. At first I thought it was something so terrible and I thought it had taken control over him. I let him go because I thought he would have been able to move on, but it seems as if he hasn't moved on at all. Right now it seemed so wrong for us to ever be apart from each other again.

"I might not be fully human and I know you're not thrilled with the idea of imprinting, but I want you to know that none of it has to play a part in our relationship."

I adjusted so that I was now sitting on his lap instead of on the seat beside him. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and buried my face into the crook of his neck, relishing in the feeling of being so close to him.

"I can accept that you're a wolf Brady. All I want is for you to be sure that you want to be with me. When you told me what you were it took me a while to grasp the whole concept. And the whole imprinting thing still doesn't make sense to me. I still think that it's something that's not entirely fair," he was about to protest, but I put my hand over his mouth so he wouldn't, "I want to be with you. Just take time to think about whether or not you really truly want to be with me."

He rutted his brows at me, "How much time do you think I need to decide something I've already decided?"

"One day," I said, "Just one day for you to sit and think things through and then you give me your answer. I'll be ready to accept whatever it is."

He started to laugh and I rolled my eyes at him, "You're being ridiculous."

"I'm not!"

I shoved his chest even though it had absolutely no affect on him. He just kept laughing like I had told the greatest joke ever. I got off of his lap and moved to the other side of the truck, looking out of the window instead of looking towards him. I wasn't angry, I just wanted him to actually listen to me before he turned it all into a joke.

His laughter died suddenly, and I heard him start to groan because of what I had done.

"Come back over here," he sounded sad all of a sudden. Was that really all it took? "come on after all the time I had to spend apart from you."

"It was only three weeks," I said it as if it wasn't long at all when it felt to me as if it were a century long. I wasn't about to tell him that though.

"Please?" I felt myself start to shiver all over again because I wasn't near him. I tried my best to hide it so that he wouldn't use it against me, "Melody."

I felt his hand on my arm and I jumped, glancing at him over my shoulder, "I'm not kidding with you Brady. I need you to take this seriously and really consider all of your options."

He sighed, and the sound had a bit of an annoyed edge to it, "I promise you I'll take the time tomorrow to think about it all, and I'll make my decision," I caught him slightly rolling his eyes, "now can you please just come here before I go insane all over again?"

I nodded my head and did as I was told, curling myself up into his lap and enjoying his warmth once more.

"I choose you," he whispered in my ear.

"Doesn't count," I whispered back.

He chuckled and wrapped his arms around me, "So what, in twenty four hours if I say that again you'll accept it?"

I smiled, "That's exactly what I'm saying."

"You're ridiculous."

"Shut up," I closed my eyes as my lips tugged upwards even more, "you're not helping your case at all."

He ran his finger along my cheek as I attempted to drift off to sleep, "I love you."

I snuggled up even closer to him and took in his scent that I had missed so much. I enjoyed that smell of his, "Still doesn't count."

"It's true though."

I shook my head at him and went back to focusing on falling asleep, letting his words fill me up with a happiness that I hadn't felt in almost a month.

00000

I had woken up the next morning sweating profusely and feeling fully rested for the first time in a long time. The sun was surprisingly shining and its appearance caused a smile to appear on my face. I could hear Brady snoring softly behind me and for a while I just listened to the sound of it. It was the only proof I had that he was really here.

Thankfully, his arm wasn't gripped tightly around me and was only resting gently on my hip. I took the opportunity to get out of the crammed car and walked to the beach to cool off. I needed to wash this sweat off of me; my hair was practically glued to my face.

I quickly took off my shirt and my sweater along with my shorts and tossed them aside, glancing back at the truck to make sure he wasn't looking at me in only my underwear.

When I was reassured that there were no eyes on me I quickly made my way into the water. It was pretty cold, but I was blazing hot so it didn't really have an effect on me.

I waded in the water for a while and enjoyed the peace it brought to me. I was able to keep a clear head for a change since it seemed like there was always something on my mind lately. Now that school was done I could focus on myself for a while. Even though I would eventually have to start thinking about college that point in my life seemed so far away right now.

I swam under the water for a few minutes and eventually I ended up floating on the surface, staring up at the blue sky and glancing at the cliffs every few seconds.

When I decided I was finished I put on my dry clothes and waited for Brady to wake up. I guess he probably hadn't gotten a full night's sleep in a long time either. So, what Emily and the other girls were saying must have been true. He was miserable just as I had been.

Was it because of imprinting that he was like that? I mean last night his face had gone from gloomy and dark to bright and happy in a matter of minutes. No doubt my spirits had been lifted when he surprised me last night. I guess it affected both of us.

Finally, after fifteen minutes of me questioning everything about him he woke up. I watched as his eyes lit up when he saw me and smiled at him as he walked towards me. When he sat down he instantly put his arm around my waist and pulled me into his side.

"Good morning," he yawned and began playing with my dampened strands of hair, "You went swimming?"

I nodded, "I was sweating like a pig when I woke up."

He chuckled, "Sorry about that."

"It's alright I guess," he grabbed my hand and left my hair alone for the time being, "I can't stay here for long. I have to go back to Connor's place and then go to work."

I specifically didn't tell him about my plans to go get my phone from my house. I didn't want him to freak out about it. It would be something quick, and I was sure of it. I knew if I told him that then he would assume the worst. After I learned that he attacked my father I didn't trust him to go to the house with me.

"Can I see you later then? So I can tell you what my decision is?" he said it lightheartedly, expecting me to laugh because he thought he had already made a decision.

"Don't make it into a joke. I want you to take it seriously. _Really_ think about it, and don't let any wolf stuff cloud your judgment."

"Wolf stuff?" he quirked his brow at me and I laughed lightly at his question.

"I don't know," I shrugged, "just make your own choice Brady. Tell me how you feel about me in your own words without saying that I'm your gravity or whatever."

He bobbed his head up and down in understanding, "Ok," he stood up and pulled me up along with him, "Come over tonight then."

I knew that later tonight things were going to finally be settled between the two of us, and I was ready to finally be able to say the last three weeks were in the past now. I was ready to look forward to the future, which I was hoping would include the two of us together.

"I will," I gave him one more smile before I pulled him into a tight hug, feeling all of my worries slip away right then and there. I kept my arms wound tightly around his neck while my face was buried in his chest. He pressed a light kiss right beneath my ear and I felt myself become dizzy from just that one sweet gesture.

I hoped that he would choose me, because in that moment I knew that I wanted him to more than anything.

When everything was said and done he walked back to his house and I drove my truck back to mine. Unfortunately, the sight of the house put a damper on my good mood. I didn't think twice about it when I walked through the door though. I wanted to get in there and then get out of there as quickly as possible.

I looked all over the living room for my phone, finding no trace of it in there. I noticed that the house was eerily quiet as I searched, and I tried to keep myself calm as I went into the kitchen and looked in there. I finally managed to find it lying on the ground by the counter, and I breathed a sigh of relief when I picked it up.

Connor had obviously been going crazy last night from the various text messages and calls he had sent me last night. I sent him a quick text to let him know I was ok and that I had lost my phone last night so I couldn't respond to him. After that was done I was ready to get away from this place. This would be the first time I could escape without being hurt in some sort of way.

When I stood up I turned around and saw my father standing in the doorway.

I guess I had thought wrong.

His menacing glare was focusing on me, and I noticed that his shotgun was residing in his right hand. I stared at him straight in the face, and felt something horrific begin to erupt inside of me, telling me that I was in danger.

He took a swig of the glass that was in his left hand and let the bottle drop to the floor before he raised his gun and pointed it straight at me.

My breathing literally stopped in that instant and all I could focus on was his face, which showed nothing but hate. All I could think was that I was going to die.

I raised my hands and felt my lungs begin to clench inside of me, begging for air.

"I told you what would happen if you said something," and that was all I needed to hear to know what was going to happen.

Before I could plead for my life or even try to apologize he pulled the trigger.

I was pushed backwards in an instant. I had ended up on the floor.

My chest felt warm. My hands were still. My ears were ringing.

I tasted blood in my mouth, and when I looked down all I saw was red seeping out of me. As my eyes fluttered upward again all I saw was Noah's face, smiling down at me.

I felt no pain. No pain at all.

**Cliffhanger...**

**I am cruel I know...I just think that suspense is always a good thing and it keeps you all wanting more. I won't reveal anything for future chapters.**

**If you have any guesses as to what will happen then leave them in a review! :)**

**Otherwise goodnight and happy reading (and happy fly hunting)**

**~KK**


	33. 31 Bleeding Out

**It's been a little over a week since my last update. I'm proud of myself for keeping up with things unlike before. Thank you to everyone who added this story or me to their alerts and favorited this story. Also, thank you to the brave people who left a review :) your feedback is greatly appreciated. It's motivation to me. **

**This chapter turned out a bit differently than what I originally had in mind, but I think it came out alright. The next chapter is one I'm excited about, but next week I have tests on top of tests and I'm not sure how much I'll be able to write. Organic Chemistry is killing me already and I'm not looking forward to all the studying I have to do...ugh**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter! :) Don't forget to leave your feedback in the review box at the bottom!**

Song for this Chapter- Bleeding Out by Imagine Dragons

_When the hour is nigh__  
__And hopelessness is sinking in__  
__And the wolves all cry__  
__To fill the night with hollering__  
__When your eyes are red__  
__And emptiness is all you know__  
__With the darkness fed__  
__I will be your scarecrow__You tell me to hold on__  
__Oh you tell me to hold on__  
__But innocence is gone__  
__And what was right is wrong__'Cause I'm bleeding out__  
__So if the last thing that I do__  
__Is to bring you down__  
__I'll bleed out for you__  
__So I bare my skin__  
__And I count my sins__  
__And I close my eyes__  
__And I take it in__  
__And I'm bleeding out__  
__I'm bleeding out for you, for you._

Chapter 31

Bleeding Out

I watched him step over my body and walk out the back door with his gun in his hand, escaping before anyone could catch him I assumed. He didn't care that he had left me there to die. My own father had just shot me.

The realization dawned on me and I suddenly became aware of the fact that my brother was leaning against the counter staring back at me. I didn't know if he was real, but I hoped that he was. I could accept that I was dying if it meant that I got to see him again.

It felt as if I was lying there in a pool of my own blood forever. Every time I would try to make any sort of movement it would cause an excruciating pain to appear, so I stayed where I was and hoped that someone would find me.

The minutes ticked away, and I was beginning to feel myself slip into unconsciousness. My eyes began to close on their own accord, and that's when he finally spoke to me.

"Melody," I looked up, only to find him crouched down right beside me, "try to hold on."

"No…Noah," my voice was scratchy and weak.

"They're going to be here in a minute," his voice soothed me to the point where I found it hard to do what he was telling me to. All I wanted was for all of this to end. If I gave up, then it would go away. I wouldn't have to worry about being hit by him and I wouldn't have to see all of those horrible people at school. This was my way to escape once and for all.

My breathing began to slow down and I stopped trying to fight against the darkness.

"You can't leave Brady," his words made everything worse.

I shook my head slightly, opening my mouth to speak but soon realizing that no words were coming out. When I gazed back at him again everything changed. One second it was only the two of us, and the next it was chaos.

There was screaming and growls and people saying my name. I didn't pay attention to them though. All of their words blurred together because I could only focus on my brother. I didn't want to take my eyes off of him since I feared that he would leave me. And if he wasn't going to stay here then I would go with him. I wasn't going to risk having him ripped away from me again.

"Mel," he half smiled, his green eyes lighting up, "you've been so strong."

And his words were all I needed to hear to make me feel like I had lived to the fullest. There was nothing left for me in this world. I had done everything I could and accomplished so many things I didn't think were possible for me. Even though I didn't have the type of life that most people had I was able to experience so many beautiful things that others can't say they've experienced. I experienced true love and I have been blessed with the best friend anyone could ask for. I had opened myself up to people and taken a risk by exposing myself to them, and they accepted me for who I was. I might not have been able to tell Brady how much I actually did love him, but I felt that he would know that I did. We were on good terms and that was all I needed to feel happy. So I would die, and I would die feeling at peace.

I closed my eyes once more as their voices began to fade away. Then, I took the last breath of my life.

* * *

I was standing in the kitchen, staring down at the many people that were crowded around my lifeless body on the floor. Brady was there, falling apart at the seams while Embry was trying to resuscitate me. Paul and Collin were both covered in blood, my blood. It felt strange to witness the scene in front of me, knowing that I wasn't actually the person lying there on the floor anymore. I was detached from that girl now.

"You draw quite the crowd," I turned around and looked at him with his hands in his pockets and his hair swept over his eye. He looked at me, analyzing my face before the biggest grin appeared on his face.

Before I could really think about it I lunged myself into his arms and wrapped my arms tight around his neck. For the first time in a long time I felt him hug me back. I could feel his breath on my skin and I smelled his familiar scent of tobacco and pine.

My eyes sprung with tears just then and I squeezed him as tight as I could, never intending to let him go.

"Is this real?" I questioned, not really caring about the answer. All I could think about was the fact that I was hugging my brother again.

"Yeah," he chuckled.

We stood there for a while, and it felt like hugging him was strengthening the bond that had nearly been severed when he died. When I looked behind me to see what was going on I realized that everyone was gone, even I was gone. All that was left was the blood on the floor.

"They took you to the hospital."

I glanced at his face, "Am I dead?"

He pulled away from me and sighed, "There's a lot to explain."

"What do you mean?"

He smiled at me once more, ignoring my question as he began to walk away from me. He walked right around the pool of blood nonchalantly and out the back door, and I followed closely behind him. I wanted to make sure that he wouldn't leave my sight for the slightest second. I might not see him again if I did.

He walked to the edge of the forest and leaned up against the nearest tree, crossing his arms over in front of him. I watched him as he watched me, and I liked to think that he was doing it for the exact same reason I was. He had missed seeing me as much as I had over these past months, and both of us were just trying to enjoy the fact that we were here together again.

"You don't know how much I've missed you Noah," I said, "I was so lost without you."

"Brady's helped you," he pointed out, his famous grin lighting up his features.

I paused for a moment, trying to pick just one question out of the many that were racking my brain, "So you really have been watching out for me?"

He shrugged, "More like observing from afar."

I pursed my lips and tried to imagine it. I had wondered if he was watching over me for so long and now I knew the answer. I felt like I had just won an amazingly unique prize.

"Did you send him to me? Brady I mean?"

He laughed and the sound made me smile, "Not really. It doesn't work like that Mel."

I shook my head, "Well I have no idea what it's like. Give me a break I've only been dead for about ten minutes."

His laughter faded into silence and he suddenly became very serious. By the look on his face I probably wouldn't like what I was going to hear, "You're not dead yet Melody."

I gave him an incredulous look, wondering if I had just misunderstood him or if he had really just said that. The longer I looked at his face though, the more I could tell I had heard correctly, "What do you mean I'm not dead yet?"

He rolled his eyes before he pushed himself off of the tree and grabbed both of my shoulders. He bowed his head so he could get a good look at me, "You still have a chance to go back."

I broke our eye contact and looked down at the grass, trying to make sense of what he said to me. If he was trying to get me to try and fight to live he was wasting his time. All I've wanted for the past few months was to see him again, and now that I got the chance I wouldn't give it up just to go back to being a broken girl whose father tried to kill her.

"What if I don't want to go back?" I asked, keeping my head down.

Noah's hands dropped down to his sides and he leaned up against the tree again, "You'll regret it. Not many people get this kind of choice."

I grunted, realizing that he probably wasn't catching on to what I was getting at, "I can't Noah, not without you. I've been so miserable since you left."

"You found Brady though," he said, "and I know you're not miserable when you're with him."

I let out a deep breath and let my eyes graze over the forest before they met his, "There's still a piece of me that's missing. You left so suddenly…" my voice trailed off because I didn't know if I could finish it.

His grin quickly formed into a hard line, and his face was rid of any traces of joy I saw before. I watched the way his eyes started to darken once the words left my lips. It made me think about the times when we had gone to his room after being cursed out and beaten by our father. He would always sit on his bed with the same exact look on his face, and it scared me that I saw it now.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

His eyes flickered to me for a moment before they settled on something off to his right. He clenched and unclenched his jaw, and I began to speculate whether or not I had said something that I shouldn't have.

"You have every right to be pissed at me," he mumbled.

I couldn't decipher what he meant by that, "What are you talking about?"

He turned his head back towards me, looking as if he was afraid to answer me, "I didn't want you to know what I was going to do. I…" his lips began to tremble, "I didn't even know if I was really going to go through with it. Not until…"

Then it became clear. I had triggered him to tell me about his death. It was something I never thought I would hear him talk about.

"You think Logan had something to do with it," he seemed to collapse onto the ground, and I sat down across from him instantly, listening intently to what I was being told, "but I had it planned for a long time."

I sat there frozen by his confession, and I suddenly began to question if this was even real. Maybe I was just dreaming all of this and I would eventually wake up. If I was dreaming then it would probably be a lot easier to comprehend what I was hearing. Right now, all I could do was stare at him blankly.

"I just want you to know that you were the only reason why I didn't want to do it."

"Then why did you do it?" my voice sounded harsh and I hadn't meant for it to sound that way. I guess it was because I had been looking for some sort of answer to this question for so long.

He rubbed his palm over his face and ran his fingers through his hair, resting his elbows on his knees and forming his hands into a fist, "There's a lot you don't know."

"Then tell me Noah, we have all the time in the world-,"

"We don't," he cut me off, his eyes piercing through my own, "You need to stop thinking about me and think about who you'll be leaving behind. Brady's not ready to let go of you, and I know you're not stupid enough to think that you'll never regret giving up a second chance to be with him."

Hearing my brother talk about my relationship with Brady made me realize that he really had been watching me. He told he that he had, but now there was proof of it. He knew everything already, maybe even more than I did.

"You know what he is?" I asked more for clarification than anything else.

He nodded, "I'd be lying if I said I didn't think it was really fucking weird."

I laughed at him and his lips twitched up into a smile for the slightest second. I decided against trying to come up with some sort of defense against his words. In all honesty I thought it was pretty weird too. Not that I couldn't accept it, I just needed time to fully grasp the whole concept.

"He loves you though," Noah said, "and he makes you happy. All I've ever wanted is for you to be happy."

I blushed and looked away from him, "He does," I gnawed at my lip, thinking through what I was about to say before I let him hear it, "and I love him too."

He chuckled and nudged my knee with his foot, "Then why would you want to die Melody? You still have so much to live for."

I glared at him, "So did you, but that didn't stop you."

He didn't seem to be affected by what I had said as much as I thought he would. Actually, it seemed like he was expecting me to say that, "I know you want answers."

"Of course I do," I let the anger seep into my tone, "I don't understand it Noah. You always told me that you would stay with me, and you promised that you would do whatever you could to make me have the life I deserve. You lied to me."

"I didn't lie-,"

"Do you know how it felt to find you that day? I was the one who found your body strewn out on the floor with a bullet in your head! How could you do that to me?"

He winced, "I never intended for you to be the one to find me."

No tears made an attempt to escape. Maybe it was because of where I was or maybe it was because I felt numbed by his words. All I knew was that I wanted answers from him, but he wouldn't give me any.

"Melody, I know you're angry," he sighed, "I know I hurt you, but you have to understand that what I did that day had nothing to do with you alright? It was my decision, and if you're willing to listen I want to explain to you how you can find closure."

I felt confused by the way he put it, "Can't you just tell me?"

He shook his head, "It's complicated," I watched him closely as he pulled something out of the pocket of the sweater that he was wearing. When I got a good look at it I realized it was his favorite sweater, the one I had worn so many times to comfort me.

He held out a small key to me, "You have to use this to find what you're looking for."

I became frustrated, huffing and grunting at him, "What is a key going to do?"

"In my room, under my bed, you'll find it," he smirked at me before placing the key in my hand, "You just have to go back."

I rolled my eyes but closed my hand around the small thing despite how perplexed I was by it, "I don't know," I whispered.

He scooted closer to me so we were only inches apart and I grazed my eyes over his face. I didn't want to never see him again. This short amount of time we had together wasn't enough, and I felt as if it was all so unfair. He got to see me in death, but in life I would never get to see him. If I went back I would lose him all over again.

I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed him tight, "I can't do it."

He squeezed me back just as hard, and I felt my whole body relax, "It isn't your time to die yet. You still have a life you have to finish living."

"What about you? Why can't you come back with me?"

He shrugged casually, "This is where I need to be."

I breathed in his scent, wanting to keep this brief amount of time I had with him with me forever, "Noah," I whimpered, "_I_ need you."

"You'll be ok," he said, and I let out a soft sob, "I have faith in you."

I nodded even though I didn't completely agree. My heart began to ache when I realized that he was right, I needed to go back. If I stayed with him I would be leaving Brady, and while I thought I could handle it I knew in the end I would regret leaving him like Noah said. There were still so many things I needed to say to Brady, and so many things I needed to say to my brother. It felt so wrong to have to choose between the two of them, but Noah was making the choice for me.

"It's so unfair," I mumbled, "I wanted to have more time with you."

"You know you'll see me again, when the time is right," he pulled away from me with a grin on his face. His green eyes looked a bit glossy, but I brushed it off as my mind playing tricks on me. Noah was never one to cry, "Just promise me you'll tell someone about what he's done to you. I don't want you to keep it to yourself anymore."

I hesitated at first, but soon nodded in agreement, "I promise."

He stood up and reached his hand out to me to help me stand as well. I kept my gaze on him the whole time, not wanting to waste any time focusing on anything else.

We hugged each other once more, and it seemed as if we stood there for a really long time, trying to memorize every single part of each other before we would part ways again. I tried to keep the tears at bay as I said my permanent goodbyes to him.

"I'm so proud of you," he whispered to me and I smiled as wide as my lips could manage.

I had wanted to hear him say that for so long, and it made me feel like I was taking one more step closer to finding some closure in this mess in my head that his death had brought on.

I closed my eyes when he let go, letting the words run through my mind over and over again. When I opened them he was gone, and I felt my heart beat rapidly inside of my chest at how quickly it happened. I thought that I would have a meltdown, that I would be in tears on the ground. What I was feeling was the exact opposite.

Instead of feeling hollow inside I felt whole. The feeling was so foreign to me that I thought maybe it was just a fluke and it would eventually pass after being away from him for a while, but as his words repeated once more in my head it gave me some reassure. Those words reinforced the patches that were covering up the holes in my heart, and I knew that the feeling was here to stay.

I was going to be ok.

**Brady's POV**

My hands were caked in blood, in _her_ blood.

They began to tremble from the thought. I was torturing myself by staring at them, but the torturous feeling was my only reminder that I was alive. Barely, but I was alive nonetheless.

The shaking began to run its course throughout my whole body, and I tried to clench my fists to try and regain control.

The blood made my fingers feel sticky and a bit stiff. _ Her_ blood was on my hands.

I growled and sprinted towards the woods, knowing what I wanted to do. I was going to kill him and I would do it without feeling any remorse. I didn't fucking care about him. He tried to _kill_ her without thinking twice about it.

I phased when I reached the tree line and ran as fast as my body would let me go. I didn't know where I would find him, but I would go to the ends of the earth if I had to. I was going to do it no matter what happened. Sam could hate me, hell everyone could hate me. I didn't care. He deserved to die.

My speed quickened when I felt someone phase.

_Brady don't be an idiot!_ It was Leah. She was the least of my worries, but if she told Sam that I had run off then I would be in deep shit.

_I didn't tell him anything,_ I could see that she was trying to figure out where I was and I did my best to keep my thoughts hidden, _Kill him all you want it won't change anything._

I stopped as quickly as I started, wanting to rip her throat out for that comment, _Shut the fuck up Leah , you have no idea what you're talking about!_

_Maybe not, _I didn't know why I didn't keep going. It was probably because I wanted her to catch up to me so I could beat the shit out of her, _if you kill him it's not going to make her any better. It'll only get your ass into more trouble. _

I snarled, knowing she was getting closer, _She's dying! If she dies then I have to kill him! Whoever kills a wolf's imprint has to be killed by the wolf._

_You don't know that yet, _I waited until she came through the trees in front of me before I lunged at her throat. She was able to dodge out of the way before I could do any damage and I caught myself before I could fall. When I turned around she was already mid-air and I didn't have time to react before she pinned me down to the ground, _try that again kid I fucking dare you._

_Get off of me! _

_Not until you listen to me! _Leah bared her teeth at me and smashed her paw into my own. I tried my best not to show my discomfort, _you're out here thinking that you're avenging her death when she hasn't even died yet! Grow some balls and stop hiding out here like a pussy!_

_I'm not hiding, _I stopped fighting against her, knowing that it would get her to let me go sooner if I did.

_You are, because you don't want to go back there and have them tell you something you don't want to hear. _

I swiped my paw at her face, missing her by only an inch, _She wasn't breathing. We tried to revive her and nothing happened. I'm not stupid, I know what it means._

Finally, I felt her release me and I stood up on all fours immediately. I growled and stood there in a defensive stance, ready to attack her if she tried to do anything like that again.

_You got to her in time-_

_You don't know that Leah, _I turned my back to her, ready to get as far away from her as possible.

_You're pathetic, _she didn't try to stop me as I walked off.

An image of Melody's father entered my mind, and all I saw were the claw marks across his left cheek. It made me stop, and I looked back over my shoulder in her direction.

_Sam did it,_ she stared at me expectantly, waiting for me to react in some sort of way, _After the ambulance came Sam found him hiding out in the woods. It got him to stop running that's for sure. _

Honestly, I didn't feel as shocked as I probably should have been. You could say I was even a bit happy about it. After Sam had lost control when he first met Emily he swore that he would never hurt another human again. Melody's father wasn't human though, and I considered him to be equivalent to bloodsuckers. I wouldn't be surprised if Sam thought the same thing when he found him.

_He didn't want me to say anything to you, but I thought you deserved to know. _

I looked down at the ground and sighed before I began to walk away again, _He deserves everything he gets. _

She stayed silent after that and a couple minutes later I felt her phase back. I kept moving through the trees mindlessly, not going in any particular direction. I knew that I just needed to be alone for a while, to fully process what was going on. I hadn't had a minute to sit and think.

When my mind became filled with thoughts of Melody I realized why that was probably a good thing.

Every single part of me was begging me to make it all stop, but I let the thoughts eat away at me. I started analyzing everything that had happened before we left the beach this morning, thinking of what I should've done and what I failed to do. I was so close to getting her back, and now there was no way of knowing if we would ever be together again.

I let out a pain filled howl as my legs gave out. I collapsed onto the ground and closed my eyes, wanting to die and be with her. All I wanted was her.

Tears lined my eyes as I laid there, my mind racing with thoughts of all of the possible outcomes that could've resulted in her being safe. I shouldn't have let her go, I should've never let her leave my sight this morning. None of this would've ever happened if I didn't leave her to fend for herself. I should've spent the whole day with her. We had been apart for three full weeks, and those weeks were complete hell for me. If she doesn't make it then my whole life will be a living hell. I wouldn't let it get to that though; I would kill myself so I could be with her before it got to that point.

There was no way I was going to live in a world where she didn't exist.

If only I had just stayed with her on that beach, convinced her how much I really loved her and then spent the whole day alone with her. This could've been avoided so easily, but I was a fucking idiot who let her go.

I knew he would do something like this to her eventually. I knew he was capable of it, and yet I couldn't even manage to stop it before it happened. I would've taken that bullet for her in a second if it meant that she was safe, but I was too late. I had let her down.

My body shook as I whimpered and moaned. I was being a coward by not going back to the hospital, but I couldn't face it, not yet. Leah was right; I didn't want them to tell me something I didn't want to hear. It was easier for me to sit here and pretend that she was still alive than it was to go back there and be told that she wasn't. The pain was easier to cope with this way.

I stayed there for a long time, wallowing in my misery. It took me about an hour to put myself back together again, and even then I didn't move from my spot.

Suddenly, I felt someone phase, and I didn't bother to say anything to Seth as he walked through the woods.

_Brady, _Seth sighed once he could see the condition I was in through my mind.

_I don't want to hear it, _I opened my eyes and glared at the trees.

_Yes you do, _he found me in no time because I was too focused on beating myself up over everything that I didn't even try to hide my whereabouts, _She's in surgery._

I didn't know if I could believe him at first. I thought that he was just trying to tell me what I wanted to hear, but he let me see what had happened earlier. The doctor told him they were able to get her heart to start beating again, but it had stopped for nearly five minutes. She was in critical condition, and the bullet had lodged between her heart and a main artery, breaking two of her ribs in the process. The survival rate for an injury like that was slim to none, and she had lost a lot of blood. They were going to do the best they could to repair the damage.

_Slim to none, _I repeated. Out of everything it was the only thing I could focus on.

_She still has a chance. She's alive Brady._

I let out a callous laugh, _Barely, and even if she did make it out of the surgery there's still a huge chance she won't make it, _I let my anger grab a hold of me again, and all I could think about was eliminating the person who had caused Melody to be in this fragile condition, _It's all because of that lowlife piece of shit!_

I let out a feral growl and sprinted out of the clearing. Everything blurred past me as I ran, and I focused solely on what I was going to do it. I was going to kill him and I was going to make it as painful and as slow as possible.

_Brady stop! _Seth called out to me and I completely ignored him. He wasn't about to stop me.

I had run almost two miles when I heard Sam's powerful command, _Enough! _I stopped reluctantly, trying my best to resist him, and giving up once it almost started to become painful, _Brady if you kill him you'll have someone's blood on your hands._

I scoffed, _Didn't stop you! _

Sam's mind went blank right then, and Seth was trying to figure out what I was talking about, _I wasn't going to kill him-,_

_Why did you do it? _

He paused for a moment before he answered me, _He would've gotten away if I didn't do something. I did what I had to do to protect everyone. He could've shot someone else. It was the only way I could get the gun away from him. _

I shook my head, _I'd prefer it if he had shot me instead of her._

Seth stayed quiet the whole time, and he tried to reassure me that Melody would be ok by replaying what the doctor had said. I didn't find it comforting at all.

_I shouldn't have let her leave, _the thoughts I had from before were returning with a vengeance, _She doesn't deserve this._

_I know, _Sam thought, _He's going to pay for what he's done Brady. _

The police were at her house investigating the scene where he had left her to die. I thought about all of the blood on the floor, the blood that was probably still stuck to my skin. I didn't dare to look to see if it was still there even after I phased.

_You need to go to the hospital, _Sam began heading in the direction of his house, _if there's any news you should be the one that hears it first. _

I was still opposed to going. I would rather have other people relay the news to me than to have to hear it from the doctor himself.

_Come on Brady, you're being stupid, _Seth was getting more annoyed by the minute, _and a bit selfish. _

_Just leave me alone Seth, _I thought.

_Go to the hospital, _Sam ordered harshly. I groaned in protest, digging my paws into the dirt as I felt the alpha command grab a hold of me again. It tried to pull me in the direction of the hospital but I used all my strength to fight against it, _Go now and don't leave until you hear some news._

It seemed as if my legs no longer belonged to me, because as soon as he said it they moved on their own accord, not even listening to my brain that was telling them to stop, _Damn you Sam!_

_You'll thank me later._

I kept moving begrudgingly through the woods, and my stomach churned as I came closer to the one place I've been avoiding all afternoon.

* * *

Connor was shooting daggers at me from across the room and I tried to act oblivious to it. I fidgeted and changed my position in the uncomfortable chair at least a hundred times, my nerves starting to take control. It felt like I had been in here for an eternity.

There wasn't any news yet, and I didn't know if I should feel good or bad about it. I had been trying to find something even remotely interesting to focus on as I waited. Nothing held my attention for more than five seconds.

The only thing that really kept my mind off of things was Connor's death glare. I knew he wanted to kill me, and that he was probably blaming me for what had happened to Melody. I was beginning to think he wasn't so far off on that one.

Loud sobbing from the nurses' station caught my attention, and I glanced over my shoulder only to do a double take at who I saw. It was her mother. She stood there with a look on her face that can only be described as complete and utter terror.

I scowled in disgust. She shouldn't be crying. She doesn't deserve to cry. Not after what she's done to Melody.

I gripped both arms of the chair as my hands began to tremble. Collin was sitting next to me, but he was too focused on the floor tiles to notice the shaking.

When I looked behind me again my body seemed to turn off for a second. She was still sobbing, only now she was sobbing into a doctor's white jacket, clutching onto him as if….

I shook my head and cleared the thought away. No, she couldn't be-

Then she kissed him on the lips briefly and I nearly threw the chair I was sitting in across the room. A small amount of sawdust fluttered to the floor, but that was about all the damage that was done.

He comforted her and said things to her that made her uncontrollable sobbing quiet down a bit, and I was ready to go over there and slap her across the face.

She was obviously in love with the guy, and he obviously wasn't her husband. So she was cheating on the asshole that shot my imprint. How fucked up are these people?

I let the disgust I felt show clearly on my face as I turned around again, thinking hard about everything I had just witnessed. She's never cared about Melody and now she's crying as if she's cared for her her whole life. Obviously she was leading a double life. Well, it seemed like one of those lives took priority over the other. I don't think I have to say which one that is.

My head soon became filled with so many questions. I wanted to know whether or not Melody knew about this. She already hated her mother, and this would surely push her even farther away from her. That is if she survives.

I shuddered at the thought of her dying and neither of her parents genuinely caring that she was no longer with them. I couldn't consider her mother's tears as genuine at all, because she seemed so cold hearted the last time I saw her. How could I know she wasn't just putting on an act for all of the people here?

It didn't take long for the two of them to make their way over to various seats in the small waiting room. I looked down at the sawdust that was on the floor as they sat right across from me. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed that Connor's glare was set on her instead of me. If everything wasn't so messed up I might've laughed at it.

She wouldn't stop crying, and as the minutes ticked by I felt my anger run thinner and thinner.

"I don't know what I'll do if she doesn't survive," she said, "I've already lost Noah."

I growled and narrowed my eyes as I tried to stop myself from attacking her.

"What's your issue?" Collin asked, finally tuning back into reality.

"I never got to tell her how much I love her," she wiped the corners of her eyes, "She'll never know."

"No, she won't," I said through gritted teeth. Her head lifted off of the doctor's shoulder and her eyes widened at me.

"Excuse me?"

I kicked the chair out from under me and towered over her in her seat, "You don't deserve to be here and you certainly don't get to talk about Melody as if you ever cared about her! You've been non-existent throughout her entire life! You don't get to say you love her now! It's too late for that!" She stared at me in complete shock and the asshole she was cuddling up next to stood up and tried to push me back. He definitely wasn't as strong as I was, "You're selfish and she'll never forgive you for what you've done to her!"

Collin restrained me from attacking her, and I would've done it if he hadn't stepped in.

She had some fucking nerve to talk about Melody like that. I knew more about her than her own mother, and I'm sure she didn't even know who I was. It's not like she was ever around to talk to Melody.

Collin quickly led me out of the room and I couldn't stop shaking. He took me to the bathroom since I couldn't exactly leave the hospital due to Sam's command. I breathed in through my nose and out through my mouth, trying to get myself to calm down so I wouldn't phase in the hospital.

"What was that all about?" Collin asked. I thought he would've caught on by now.

"That's her mom," I clenched my jaw, "she's sort of a bitch."

"Obviously," he sighed.

I turned on the faucet and splashed some cold water on my face, my mind drifting back to why I was here in the first place. I looked at myself in the mirror, barely recognizing the person I was seeing anymore. The way I've looked over the past three weeks made it seem like it couldn't get any worse. Well, right now I looked worse.

I looked like a walking corpse.

"What if she dies Collin?" I turned my eyes to the faucet, not wanting to see my wretched face for a second longer.

He leaned up against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest, "She's not going to die. She's tough."

I furrowed my brows, "If she doesn't make it," I paused, "I'm going to die right along with her."

He grimaced, "Let's hope it doesn't come to that then."

I clung to that one word like it was my lifeline.

Hope.

It was such a simple word, and yet it was the only thing that was preventing my world from completely falling apart. In order to survive this agony I would have to keep hope with me, even though it seemed like there was only a little bit of it left.

**Well what did you think?**

**I know I ended Brady's POV a bit abruptly, but I didn't want to drag it out forever this chapter was already 13 pages long. Again, I'm not sure when the next update will be because I have a lot of studying to do next week. Believe me I'd rather be writing...but I also need to get through college. Just FYI don't become a Biology major...it'll kick your ass and it'll kick it hard...bleh**

**Leave your feedback for me in the form of a review! :) It's always great to read about what you all think of this story. **

**~KK**


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